Oliver headed back to Verdant after watching Bennett leave for Central City. He was supposed to be meeting Maseo here, but Verdant was empty. He decided to take this time to train, and to blow off some steam.

An hour later, Maseo finally showed up.

"Want a partner?"

"Depends. What did you need to talk to me about?" Maseo had sounded urgent on the phone. And now, with the look of gloom and doom on his face, Oliver was worried.

"Maybe I should wait until Diggle and everyone is here."

"Or you could tell me now, and then I'll decide if I want to include them later. What is it? Is it Tatsu?"

"No," Maseo's eyes tightened at the mention of her name, as they always did. "A cop was killed last night. By this." Maseo pulled an arrow from his bag. An arrow that looked identical to the ones Oliver used.

"That's impossible." Oliver was with Bennett last night. He wasn't out killing cops. Neither were any of his friends.

"You know who did this, Oliver."

No. Oliver couldn't believe it. There was no way. He had come home from Nanda Parbat. He wouldn't come here, to Starling City. What reason did he have?

"Why?"

"He's trying to turn the city against the Arrow. Against you."

Oliver felt like he was falling. Deeper. And deeper into the darkness. How could this be happening? The worst part was, he knew this would only be the beginning.

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Barry was headed back to STAR Labs when Cisco's panicked voice crackled over his radio.

"Barry! You need to get here. Now!"

"Ciscos? What's going on?" Barry was already headed straight for their location, but he wanted to know what he was running into.

"It's Bennett. She's been stung."

Barry picked up the pace. A few moments later, he found Bennett unconscious on the ground with Ray on top of her. He was meticulously counting seconds, breaths, pumping her chest. CPR. Her heart had stopped.

"Barry do something!" Kaitlyn cried out to him, but he wasn't sure what to do. He had a crazy idea. A crazy idea that just might work.

"Get back." He had to pull Ray off of her. He placed his hands over her still figure, right above her heart. A jolt of electricity burst from his hands into her chest. When nothing happened, he tried a second time. This time, her eyes opened and she took a ragged breath.

"Barry?" Her eyes searched his, confused.

"Bennett! Oh my God, oh my God." Ray came over and held her. "Thank God you're okay. Well, Barry. Thank you, Barry. You saved her."

"What happened?" Ray helped Bennett sit up. She put her hand to her neck.

"You passed out, and then your heart stopped beating. But Barry, he brought you back. He saved your life." Ray came over and embraced him.

"It was nothing, really."

Bennett stood up and walked over to him. She pulled his hood from his face. He felt bare and exposed, but not just because his mask was off. The way Bennett looked at him, at everyone really, it was like she could see past all the masks you put up. It was like she could see all your flaws, all your secrets, and when she smiled at you, you knew that everything was okay. Everything that had happened to you, everything you had done, she still saw something good in you.

She didn't say anything to him. Just wrapped her strong arms around him. After he returned the embrace, she finally whispered into his ear.

"Thank you, Barry Allen." Not the Flash. The Flash hadn't saved her. Barry Allen did. And it felt good.

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Riding the elevator up to STAR Labs, I noticed Cisco hadn't spoken to me since the incident. His bubbly personality seemed dampened. Kaitlyn insisted on checking all of her vitals, so she followed her into the smaller room.

"That was really brace. What you did. Saving Cisco. Thank you." Kaitlyn smiled up at her, holding a tablet in her hand. She picked up a scanner and ran it over my face and chest.

"I think he's mad at me. He has barely even looked at me since we got back."

"He's probably just in shock, he really hates bees. I think this whole thing just shook him up." Maybe she was right. Maybe I was over reacting. She inspected the sting on my neck, digging a cotton swap into it. I couldn't help it, I flinched away from her.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you." She took the swap and placed it in a plastic tube. "Can I, uh, do you mind, I mean, if I ask you a question?" I already knew what she was going to ask, but I nodded my head anyway. "These scars on your neck, some of them are older than others, but they all seem to be the same. Like they were made from the same device, or instrument." Well, I thought she was going to ask how I got them, so maybe this was a little easier.

"It was a copper wire. It's a good restraint, cheap, pliable. Plus it conducts electricity extremely well which is an added bonus." She fiddled with her tablet, avoiding my gaze.

"So it was used against your will then, like, uh-"

"Torture?" Her eyes flitted up to mine, then down to her tablet. She blushed. I knew how hard it was for people to say the word. Torture. It was so taboo, so not talked about.

"Uh, yes. I'm sorry, if I'm being rude. I don't mean to pry."

"No, it's okay. I understand. I would ask questions, too. It's just that it's all pretty recent, you know. It's so fresh and still healing that I'm not ready to talk about things yet. I still have episodes, flashbacks, memories I don't want to have."

"Post-traumatic stress disorder. I get it. And from what I can see, it's understandable. And totally normal. I just hope you know, that if you ever need or want to talk to an objective third party, I'll be here."

"Thank you. I really appreciate it." With a clean bill of health, Kaitlyn left me alone to change clothes. In the bathroom, I checked the wound on my neck. There was a circular bruise with a tiny dimple in the center. Kaitlyn had told me it should clear up in a week or two.

I rinsed my hands, and cleared some dirt from my shirt. Glancing back up to the mirror to check my reflection, I saw a man, covered in blood, standing right behind me. I immediately spun around, but he was already gone. My heart rate felt as if it had tripled, and my chest was struggling to pump air in and out. My legs shook, and I slipped to the floor. I kept seeing him in my mind, then I heard the voices.

"Look what you've done! This is your fault! How could you do this? Why couldn't you just kill him?" I squeezed my hands over my ears, trying feebly to shut them out.

I saw flashes of children. They're tiny hands reaching for me through the bars of their cell. Women crying, bleeding. Men with no eyes. No fingers. I was going to throw up.

I tried to crawl closer to the toilet, but nothing came. My stomach clenched and unclenched as a stabbing pain ripped through me.

I couldn't hold it in any longer. I laid on the bathroom floor, still trying to block out their voices, the images in my head, and waited for it to be over.

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"How is she?" Ray questioned Kaitlyn as she rejoined the group.

"She's fine. She's just changing back into her clothes."

Ray was so relieved. He couldn't even bear to remember just an hour ago, standing over Bennett's still body. Pumping the blood through her body after her heart had quit. He knew this superhero stuff was no joke, but he hadn't been prepared for that. He had to do more. He had to try harder, be better.

"Cisco, did you manage to fix the device?"

"Huh, oh, yeah. It's just over here. I think you'll find it's up to par. I was able to double the capacity without increasing the size."

"That's perfect. Wow. You really are amazing, Cisco."

He seemed a little off, but Ray contributed it to the events they had just lived through.

"Kaitlyn, why don't you go check on Bennett, make sure she's okay. It's taking her awhile in there." Dr. Wells wheeled into the room.

"Yeah, of course." Ray noticed Barry become more tense as soon as Wells entered the room. He immediately started typing things into a computer with Felicity.

"Ray! Get in here!" Kaitlyn called him from the bathroom. He ran to her, and found Bennett crumpled on the floor, her hands covering her ears.

"It's okay, I got it. Can you get her some water, please?" Ray knelt down next to her, pulling her into his lap. This he at least knew how to deal with. This happened fairly often. Usually at night. He would find her on the floor next to her bed. Trapped inside the horrors in her head. She usually just needed a little coaxing back to reality.

"Shh, you're okay Benny. I'm here. Shh." Kaitlyn returned with some water. He held the bottle to her lips when her eyes opened.

"Ray."

"Shh, it's okay. Here, drink some water." She grabbed the bottle and sat up. Glancing at Kaitlyn, she managed to pull herself back together.

"I'm sorry. I just slipped and then, well, you know."

"It's okay. Come on, let's get you something to eat."

Ray helped Bennett up and they joined the others in the annex. Felicity looked up from her computer.

"Felicity, how would you like to go out to eat with us? Everyone's invited of course."

"I would love to. Barry, get your coat. Cisco, Kaitlyn, Dr. Wells?"

"Actually Kaitlyn and I have some work to do, tonight. But thank you for the offer. Bennett, Ray, it was a pleasure to meet both of you." Dr. Wells and Kaitlyn said their goodbyes and left.

"I actually have to meet my family for dinner tonight, but it was great to see everyone. Good luck with the suit Ray. Bennett."

They started to leave when Bennett turned back. "Go ahead and get the car, I'll be right down."

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