Oliver runs forward through the hallway the minute he spots the hole in the glass window he panics, running into the room he freezes as he spots a distraught Tommy shaking his bleeding unconscious father beginning him to wake up.

As the glass on the floor crunches under his feet Tommy gasps and turns to face him only to freak out when he spots him standing by the broken glass. Grabbing the gun to his right Tommy quickly aims it at the Hood while standing protectively in front of his father.
Oliver sighs before raising his arm in defence "I'm not here to hurt you or your father."
"I said, stay back!" Tommy screams as Oliver bends down picking up a shell casing from the floor.
Smelling it his eyes widen at the familiar scent "It's curare."

"Don't come any closer." Tommy hisses his hands shaking violently as he keeps the gun aimed at Oliver.
Oliver quickly stands trying not to startle the scared man "Your father's been poisoned. An assassin named Floyd Lawton laces his bullets with curare. I've dealt with this before. We need to dilute the poison in his bloodstream."
"I said, stay the hell back!" Tommy screams not trusting the guy for a second.

"In three minutes, he's paralysed. In four minutes, he suffocates. If you don't let me help you now, he's dead before anybody gets here."
Tommy clenches his jaw as his hands continue to shake "Help? How?"
"Fresh blood buys him time to get to the hospital. There's a medic here she can keep him alive but he needs blood."
Tommy glances back at his father before turning back to the Hood, this was completely insane "A blood transfusion? That's insane."
"It's the only way. He needs your blood. You're out of time. You need to make a decision right now."

Tommy shakes his head and raises the gun again in a panic, anger and worry for his father was fuelling him "Why should I trust you?"
Oliver takes a deep breath before finally accepting what he needed to do, switching off the voice modulator he slowly turns to Tommy and pulls off his hood looking his best friend in the eye "Because you always have."

"Oliver."

The two continue to stand there for a moment before Oliver hears Buffy enter the room he quickly pulls the Hood back on and glances at her his eyes widening as he spots the blood seeping out of her shoulder.
Tommy turns to her his face still frozen in shock Oliver sighs before tossing her the emergency medical kit "He needs a blood transfusion."

Buffy catches the bag before running forward she stays quiet clearly she had interrupted something and she really had no interest in getting involved in this bromance drama stuff.
Running over to Malcolm she opens up the bag and quickly starts setting up the needle quickly she turns to Tommy "Ready rich boy?"
Tommy glances at the blonde before turning to Oliver as though checking with him, when he nods Tommy turns to Buffy and pulls back his sleeve "Do it."

Buffy nods before quickly putting the needle in one of his veins and, wrapping up his wrist she then turns to Malcolm doing the exact same to him just as blood begins to flow between Tommy to his father.

"Someone wanna tell me what the hell is going on?" She asks acting like the curious bystander, she knew the minute she spotted Oliver putting the Hood back on that she was to act like she was a clueless blonde. A role which she had affected over the years.
When no one answers her question Buffy sighs "I need to get the bullet out." She tells Tommy as she stands.

Tommy merely nods and gestures towards the back of the room where the rest of the medical equipment was.

She sighs before glancing at Oliver who nods at her, he needed a moment alone with his best friend "Make sure he stays like that." She tells The Hood gesturing to the line of blood before making her way to the back of the room.
Tommy looks over at the blonde searching her confused face before he sighs before glancing at his best friend "You're the vigilante. Why?" Tommy asks unsure of what else to say.
"Later. He's still going to need medical attention to fully clean out his system. There is only so much she can do here. Do you understand?"

Tommy nods before taking a shaky breath still refusing to look his best friend in the eyes as he speaks "Thank you."

As they speaks Buffy watches from the distance until something catches her eyes, stepping forward she bends down and picks up the shell casing from the glass covered floor and brings it to her face.
Her eyes widen and instantly fill with anger, rage and a whole wave of other emotions, this couldn't be possible.

"He's alive."

"Miss Summers!" Tommy yells drawing Buffy's attention, the blonde's head shoots up and she instantly realises that Oliver was gone.
Glancing back at the bullet for a second she tucks it into her bra before running over and crouching down in front of Merlyn.

"He's is gonna be okay?" Tommy asks her softly.

Buffy nods and quickly unbuttons Malcolm's shirt so that she could get a better look at the wound "He'll live." She says simply before glancing over at Tommy who smiles gracefully at her as he continues to clutch his father's hand "Thank you Miss Summers."

"Buffy. Call me Buffy."

Buffy rolls her eyes as sits in the back of the ambulance where they were in checking her shoulder, they had tried to convince her to go to the hospital which had only ended up with the medic getting threatened with bodily harm multiple times and almost peeing his pants which had ended up cheering Buffy right up.
As one of the guys wraps some gauze around her shoulder Buffy sighs, great that's another scar for her many many scars. Her body was literally a human drawing board for bullets and knifes.

The medic checks the knife wound on her side which wasn't that bad, he merely cleaned it quickly before moving to bandage it but she rolls her eyes at his shaky hands and takes it herself.
"I can do it Ronald." She tells him before he quickly runs off, honestly she didn't believe she was that scary, but then again Xander had always said she was scariest when her clothes got destroyed.
Sighing as she wraps the bandage around her she glances over to where Tommy was talking to Detective Lance and McKenna.

When Tommy covers for Oliver Buffy sighs before realising that he was approaching her "Are you okay?" He asks her causing her to frown in confusion, why was he checking on her.
"Fine other than the agonising pain."
Tommy chuckles "Using sarcasm is a good sign." He pauses for a moment and looks at her with a gratefully smile "Thank you Buffy for saving my father and me. I'm sorry you got shot."
"And stabbed." Buffy says with a chuckle "Can't forget that."
"Sorry." He tells her honestly before smiling "I can't thank you enough."

Five Years Ago - Boston

"Angel's a vampire. He'll be fine." Buffy says strongly trying to convince herself as her and Gunn sit in the coffee shop opposite her apartment.
Gunn chuckles at the small blonde opposite him, she was cooler than he thought, but then again Cordy had always said she was lame.

"How many more times you gonna say that girly?" He asks her as she rolls her eyes at him before leaning back in her seat.
She groans slightly, she hated the fact that she couldn't be selfish right now, "What happened?" She asks hesitantly making Gunn grin.

"No idea. He disappeared. We're starting from point zero. We're going old school detective in this."
Buffy sighs before running a hand through her hair, after a moment she holds out her hand towards Gunn "Old School it is."

Gunn chuckles before shaking her hand "Alright then Sherlock we're do we start?"

Starling City – Present Day

"You sure you're okay?" Oliver asks Buffy as they walk down the stairs towards the foundry, he was worried about her not that he would admit that but when she had run into Merlyn's panic room covered in blood he had frozen for a brief moment. He cared about her, she was a friend. Nothing more than a friend. He repeats the phrase in his head while she merely shrugs.

"I'm fine Nancy pants." Buffy assures him as she taps him on the back before pulling the door to the foundry open, it wasn't that she didn't appreciate the worry but honestly it was more shocking than anything.
Buffy and Oliver walk into the Foundry and almost immediately both Willow and Diggle turn to Buffy with a worried frown.

"What the hell happened?" Dig asks in a panic as he approaches the blonde and places a hand on her cheek staring at her in worry, she was pail and the bandages that he could see on her made him worry, she needed to be more careful.

Buffy smiles slightly and leans into Dig's hand before wrapping her hand around his "I'm fine." She assures him giving his hand a gentle squeeze.
He sighs before stepping back allowing Buffy to turn to Willow.

Willow stares at the bullet wound on Buffy's shoulder with wide eyes before she looks up at her smiling best friend. Instead of hugging her Willow slaps Buffy's arm right where the wound was causing the blonde to cry out in pain "Ow! Why?!"
Willow merely glares at her best friend "You are not allowed to get shot!"
Buffy rolls her eyes before glancing at the guys to help her out but they merely raise their hands and back away neither one of them wanting to anger the redhead.
Buffy sighs before jumping up to sit on the table "Can we quit it with the yell at Buffy day please?"

Willow sighs before turning to Oliver with a small smile "So how's it feel to be a one-percenter?"
Diggle chuckles before glancing in-between Buffy and Oliver "Looks like Malcolm Merlyn is going to be ok. They took him to Starling General."
Buffy nods "Yeah thank god for that bullet proof vest otherwise he would have been covered in flies bout now."

When everyone in the room turns to her in confusion she leans back slightly uncomfortable "You know—cause dead bodies attract..." When non of them seem amused with this she groans in embarrassment "Never mind."
Oliver sighs before turning to Buffy, he knew that she had found the bullet with curare, she turns and catches his eye, when he merely stares at her she sighs sadly before turning to Dig.

"Dig...the bullet that hit Merlyn. It was laced curare."

Diggle freezes his jaw clenches at the reality of the situation hits him, the man who had murdered his brother in cold blood was alive, he steps away from the group and moving away from Buffy as she takes a step towards him.
"Lawton's alive." He breaths allowing the words to finally cross his lips.

"Dig." Buffy breaths sadly as she takes a step towards him but he merely shakes his head needing time and backs away out of the Foundry.

Buffy for the first time in so long fills water filling her eyes she takes a shaky breath and clenches her eyes shut. When she feels a strong hand resting on her shoulder she inhales softly taking comfort in the act of support before she glances over at Oliver and offers him a small smile.
"I'm gonna—" She starts but he merely nods his head in understanding before watching as she heads up the stairs away from them.

"This Lawton kick his dog or something?" Willow asks Oliver in confusion she hadn't seen Buffy upset like that in years and honestly that was the most emotion she had ever seen on Diggle's face.
"Nope." Oliver says with the shake of his head "He killed his brother."

"Our lives are complicated." McKenna says in annoyance as her and Oliver speak in the hospital hallway.
Oliver nods as he continues to watch her waiting to see where she was going to go with this "But I'm willing to figure us out if you are." She tells him as she finally turns and allows herself to look him in the eye.

Slowly a small smile comes to his lips "Willing and able." He tells her causing her to grin.

However before he could kiss her like he had planned she was quickly pulled away from her detective duties or something like that. Oliver shakes his head in amusement before he spots familiar blonde hair making their way across the hall. He frowns in confusion, Buffy was supposed to be at home resting yet she was in her uniform. He sighs knowing Diggle would kill him if he found out that Oliver had not stopped her from working.

He moves to follow her only to frown in confusion as he spots her speaking to a doctor at the end of the hall with light brown slightly dark blonde hair.
Curiosity gets the better of him and Oliver knowing that he shouldn't be eavesdropping does exactly that.

"I heard you saved the guy." The Doctor says to her as he places a hand on Buffy's shoulder making Oliver realise that this must be the maybe boyfriend Willow had told them about.

Buffy chuckles nervously "Yeah..."
"And you got shot and stabbed." He finishes flatly cutting her off but the worry was evident in his voice.
Buffy smiles awkwardly "Would you believe me if I said I was fine?"
"No."

Buffy sighs before stepping forward and taking his hand placing it over her heart "See totally touchable and alive and fine. Promise. I'm not going anywhere."
Dean sighs slightly before looking at her seriously "I woke up and you were gone..." He lets out a small humorless chuckle "...that's normally my thing."
Buffy laughs slightly before pulling away from Dean and beginning to head down the hall "You're gonna have to get used to a little change."

Oliver watches as the blonde walks down the hall towards the ambulance before sighing, he clenches his jaw before groaning and heading towards the door suddenly feeling a small amount of annoyance filling him.

He just wasn't sure where the hell it had came from.

"We have a traitor in our midst." Malcolm hisses the second Tommy leaves him and Moira alone in the hospital room "I want you to find out who."
Moira's eyes widen for a spilt second as she realises what exactly her failed attempt at taking out Malcolm meant.

"He just made his last mistake."

"That's everything?" Diggle asks flatly his voice void of all emotion as Xander finishes filling him in on everything he had discovered while spying on Moira for the past few weeks.
Xander nods and tosses the file to the ground "For now yeah."
Diggle sighs as he glances at the file before leaning back against the wall, he couldn't do this right now, honestly he wanted to be pounding on a punching bag more than anything else.

Xander frowns he may not know Diggle well but he could tell that something was wrong "You alright there Dig?"
"I'm fine." The bodyguard says sharply leaving no room for argument, Xander nods swiftly not really wanting to admit the fact that the very buff bodyguard could be a little scary.

"You gonna tell Oliver he's mom's basically Cersei Lannister?"

Diggle arches a brow at the ex-carpenter before allowing his thoughts to wonder, he had seen what had happened last time he had confronted Oliver about his mother, to say it had not gone well was an understatement.
"Not till we have more proof, he won't listen to reason, he will want something concrete."

"My dad's going to be ok, thanks to you and that medic." Tommy informs Oliver as he continues to stare at the wall outside his father's room while Oliver approaches him but he refuses to look at the man he had called his best friend for so long.
"It's thanks to you." Oliver argues as he walks closer but Tommy still refused to look at him.
"I once asked you what happened to you on that island." Tommy says quietly clearly angry about the betrayal from the person he had thought of as a brother "That doesn't quite cover it."
Oliver eyes widen "Tommy—"
"I saw you kill those guys who kidnapped us when you first got back, didn't I?"

Oliver goes silent and he watches as Tommy clenches his eyes shut before staring at the ground, he had never wanted this to happen, Tommy was never meant to find out about the monster he had become.
"I—I know you have a lot of questions." Oliver stutters out nervously unsure of what else to say.

"Yeah." Tommy breathes out struggling to get the words out as he does "Yeah, but for now, just the one." Finally he turns to his best friend looking him dead in the eye "Were you ever gonna tell me?"
Oliver freezes contemplating whether or not to lie in this situation but he knew either way this wasn't going to go well so he needed to tell the truth "No."

Instantly Tommy pushes away from the wall before walking straight past Oliver without another glance at his old friend.

After work Buffy was sat in Diggle's apartment sitting across from him on the couch with her legs folded as she continued to stare at him with a worried frown.
Sighing she leans forward and rests her head against his shoulder trying to comfort him despite the fact that she didn't know how "We'll find him." She whispers making a promise that she ended on keeping if it was the death of her "And we'll make sure he stays dead this time."

Diggle pulls away from her and glances down at her looking her in the eyes as he does "How can you be so sure?"
Buffy takes his hands in hers and ignores the water in her eyes as she looks at him allowing him to see the vulnerability inside of her that only he was allowed to see "I promise you even if it kills me I'll find him."

At her words Diggle shakes his head, she didn't get it, he couldn't lose her, she was the most important person in his life he had already lost Andy, losing her would crush him "You don't get it do you? You don't care about getting hurt?!" He says his voice increasing slightly as he does "I have carried you back half dead in my arms too many times to count Buffy!" He yells now getting more angry at the moment, he stands and faces her causing her to look up at him with wide eyes.

"You almost died in my arms!" He yells remembering back to that night he had found her in the construction pit "You almost died getting shot when you pushed me out of the way years ago...you keep getting hurt putting yourself at risk and you don't care!"
Buffy flinches at his loud voice before taking a shaky breath as he continues, she couldn't find it in herself to speak so she merely listened.

"But do you know how I'll feel?" He asks her not really wanting an answer so he merely continued "If you die, If I lose you like I lost Andy...I'll be devastated."
Buffy takes a deep breath before finally standing not even realising that tears had fallen down her cheeks.

She looks up at the man who had basically become her rock, her best friend, her brother and leans forward wrapping her arms around him tightly.