Sunnydale, Unknown Earth, a few minutes ago.

Barry was conducting an experiment for his chemistry class where the students, including Dawn, were partnered in pairs with one another. He was about to drop a liquid when the phone in his pocket started to buzz silently. He knew that it was the emergency phone he had given Buffy, and guessed that it was important especially since she hardly called him as the Flash. So, to call him now meant that it was extremely urgent and that her life was in danger. So, Barry put the liquid down and took out his phone as the other students looked on, especially Dawn.

She knew about the phone, and that Buffy and the other Scoobies were the only ones with the number. The brunette looked at the expression on Barry's face as he looked at the screen, and then back up at Dawn. He then walked to a corner of the room and brought the phone to his ear, "yeah, Cait. What's up?" Dawn saw Barry nod his head before he took the phone of his ear and turned around. He walked over to his bag, and Dawn could see that Barry was trying to hide the worry on his face before he looked at the phone again and then kept it in his pocket. He told the class exactly how much of the catalysing liquid to pour into the beaker, and then asked them to write a report which Dawn would be collecting.

"My mother's had a heart attack," said Barry as some of the students murmured to each other while Dawn narrowed her eyes at Barry, "so I need to get going to the hospital. Follow the instructions I just gave you, and then once you're done.. write a report. Turn over the report to Dawn, and remember that there's going to be a quiz tomorrow."

The class groaned as Barry looked at Dawn before rushing out of the door. Dawn wanted to follow him out the door, but changed her mind upon hearing the whoosh of him zooming off in the hallway. She then sighed, and started the experiment.

In the meantime, it took Barry a few minutes to run from the school to Tara's room. He soon knocked on the door and stepped in once Tara opened it. He strode over to a freaked-out Willow and Buffy who rushed to him and hugged him tight. Barry wrapped his arms around Buffy and looked on confused at Willow and then at Tara.

"What's going on?" he asked concerned.

"Someone broke into our room," said Buffy as she looked up at Barry while Willow turned the laptop screen towards him. Barry had his arm around Buffy's shoulder while Willow explained the voice that shouted out to her, followed by the newspaper she found on the railing with the I.P address and the note about the camera. Barry was incensed at the thought of someone violating Buffy and Willow's privacy. He held onto Buffy tight while Willow said that she used her magic to disable the camera's feed by sending a magical surge back to the source.

"But I don't know where the source is exactly," said Willow.

"You think you could… you know… go CSI over the whole thing?" asked Buffy looking at Barry.

"They'd have to get into your room somehow to install the camera," said Barry as he looked at the computer, "which means whoever it was that broke in must have a card-key. I mean as long as they had the code for the card, and a machine to imprint that information on the magnetic strip? Then a card could be copied."

"And where can they get a code?" asked Tara.

"The housing office?" said Willow, "maybe the registrar?"

"See if you can crack the security camera feed in the housing office," said Barry at Willow, "maybe they record their feeds?"

"I don't know," said Willow nodding her head, "but I can find out."

"And I'll head to the police station and grab a few things," said Barry as he looked at Buffy, "you still have the newspaper?"

"Willow does," replied Buffy as Willow reached for the paper, but Barry asked her not to touch it again.

"It may have the persons prints," he said as Willow quickly pulled her hand away. Her fingers were almost at the paper before she pulled back, "And the feed's gone?"

"Yeah," said Willow, "I hit their source, so if whoever this was tried to spy on us from other places, then… well… now they won't be able to."

"I wanna check the camera too," said Barry, "and I'll check on some of the other hard surfaces for prints. And I'll need to take yours and Buffy's prints, Willow. Just so that you guys can be eliminated from prints that I do find. But it all depends if whoever did this is in the system."

"We get it," said Buffy.

Barry kissed her and then zoomed out with lightning trailing behind. It would be a few hours later that Barry, when they were at the Summers house, told Buffy and Willow… as well as the others about the break-in. He said that he found an unknown partial print on the camera. He explained the prints were a visual match for prints he found on the redhead's desk. Barry gave them a few more locations before saying that even with all the prints, they needed someone to compare it against.

"So what do we do now?" asked Buffy while Giles was thinking about anything suspicious he could have seen., "I wanna punch something… or someone. And, well…"

"Just be aware of your surroundings, Buffy," said Barry as he nodded at the Slayer, and then back at Willow telling her the same thing, "I've got the camera locked away in my apartment, as well as the fingerprints from the inside of your front door and Willow's desk. I've got the pictures stored in the memory card; and everything's in the police evidence box I 'acquired' from the SPD."

"You mean stole," said Dawn.

"Borrowed," smirked Barry.

"Stole," Dawn arced an eyebrow.

"Borrowed simply means I'm going to return it at a later time, which I will," said Barry as Dawn narrowed her eyes at him. Everyone then looked at Xander who said that Barry was technically right.

"Hey," said Xander waving his hands, "I read."

Barry chuckled before sitting next to Buffy and placing his arm around her shoulders. "So heading out for patrol?"

"Yea," Buffy said as Joyce sent Dawn up to get ready for bed. Dawn grumbled while heading up the stairs. At that same time, Barry and Buffy got up from the couch.

"Well, I gotta do my own patrol," Barry said as he smiled at Buffy, "coming to my place later?"

"I think I'll be staying in your place for a few days until I'm comfortable sleeping in the dorms again and… well….."

"Before you children continue," said Giles dryly as he took off his glasses at the thought of Buffy saying something indecent, "we're right here."

Barry chuckled as Buffy turned to Giles and stuck out her tongue, and then turned towards her mother who said that she was welcome back to her room instead of staying in the dorm room. "Or, you and Willow could move up to the same floor as Tara."

"There's a room on my floor, right across the hall from me that's empty," said Tara as she held onto Willow's hand.

"And you don't want me to move in with you?" asked Willow as Tara looked at her and smiled.

"Well, I would but then Buffy would have to stay by herself and…."

"I can stay by myself too," whined Buffy before she stuck her tongue out at Tara who giggled.

"Buffy can move in with me," said Barry as Buffy looked back at him. Barry then nervously rubbed the back of his head having just remembered that the both of them agreed to take their relationship slow. However, since the question was already out there, he didn't wasn't to take it back. He then put his hands in his pockets and asked her, "I mean, do you want to move in with me?"

"But then I won't have my bestest friend there," whined Willow as Tara giggled.

"And you'll be with Tara for most of the time," said Buffy at Willow before facing Barry and putting her hands in her own pockets. "You really want me to move in with you? Or you just offering because…"

"Move in with me," asked Barry as he looked at Buffy while Anya raised her hand and asked if they were supposed to help Buffy and Willow move out.

"Anya, honey?" said Xander gently, "yeah."

"Fine," sighed Anya while Buffy nodded her head and said yes to moving in with Barry.

"So," aid Tara with an arm across Willow's shoulder, "stay with me, Will?"

"D'uh," said Willow without any hesitation while Barry and Buffy chuckled.

Barry then kissed Buffy before pulling back, telling the young woman that he'll see her later that night. Buffy nodded her head before he turned and sped out of the Summers house. Buffy, a smirk on her face while Xander exclaimed that watching Barry run was simply 'cool', then turned and headed for her weapons chest.

"We have work to do," said Buffy as she took out a stake. She then turned around and stepped to one side while Giles and the others picked up their own weapons while Joyce hugged Buffy, and whispered into her ear.

"My little Buffy's all grown up," Joyce said as Buffy returned her hug, and once they parted the both of them giggled while Buffy said that she couldn't believe she said 'yes'.

"This is an important step, Buffy," said Giles as he picked up a crossbow.

"Oh, I'm doing it," said Buffy looking at Giles while holding onto her mother, "it's just that this is the first time I've taken it this far with someone."

"You mean someone breathing," Xander pointed out. And it wasn't long before Willow nudged her oldest friend, pointing out that they agreed not to talk about 'you-know-who'.

"Guys," chuckled Buffy while Barry was stopping a mugging in Santa Barbara, "Angel was, and will be, someone I love. And Barry knows that. And I know there will be a spot in his heart for Iris. But for right here and now? It's gonna be me and him. Heck, I didn't even go this far with Riley. But me and Barry have been… I mean it's been us for more than a year and… and I'm taking this step that I'm totally okay with and…"

"Buff," said Willow as she looked at the strange thoughtful expression on Buffy' face, "you wanna back out?"

"No," Buffy said while shaking her head, "I… I mean…"

"Oh, hey," said Barry as he zoomed in again wearing his uniform, and closed the door behind him, much to the surprise of Buffy and the others. He reached inside one of the suits' pockets and took out a key, and reached out with it to Buffy, "I forgot I needed to get you a key. So, I kinda found a place open in L.A where I copied this key for you. It's a spare to m.. to our apartment."

Buffy reached for, and took the key in her hand. She then placed in in her pocket before looking over her shoulders and asking if they could be alone for a few seconds. Barry looked on confused as Giles said that he had a sudden hunger for desert. And he was followed by Joyce and then the others while walking towards the kitchen. Buffy chuckled at hearing Anya say that she wanted to overhear everything, and yelped when Willow pulled her away while Tara patted Buffy's back and smiled at Barry.

Once everyone was in the kitchen, Buffy took a step towards Barry and held his hands while looking into his eyes.

"Listen to me very carefully," Buffy said as Barry released Buffy's left hand and took off his cowl before holding it again, "every guy I've said this to either walked away from my life; died, came back to life, and then walked away; or just got into a chopper and I never saw him again."

"I get Angel and Riley, who's the first one?" asked Barry.

"My dad," said Buffy shaking her head, "anyway, I don't know what's gonna happen after this… I mean after I tell you what I wanna tell you, and…"

"You don't want to move in?" asked Barry confused.

"I do," re-assured Buffy as she placed Barry's hands around her waist and the young man took a step forward. "Barry, I don't know if you're going to leave today… or tomorrow, or a year from now. That's gonna be in the back of my mind."

"Buffy," said Barry as he placed his gloved hand on her cheek, "I told you I don't want to stay still while waiting for Cisco. I need to move on with my life… and I have you, your mom, Dawn, Tara, Willow, and the others. I'm gonna be staying here, Buffy. I'm guessing that Cisco's already got Jay helping out to keep the peace in Central City, and I'm sure Oliver and his team are helping out too. So, you know what? I don't think they'll need me after more than two years. I'm here for the long haul."

Buffy looked into his eyes, and knew that he was telling the truth. But what she wanted to say still made her heart race.

"I love you," Buffy said while Barry looked on confused. And when Buffy got worried when he didn't answer, Barry said that he wasn't sure what she meant by her father leaving because she had said the same thing to him. "I said I loved him every day, and he still left me."

"I'm not leaving you," Barry said before kissing her. He then pulled back knowing full well what he was about to say would mean to Buffy. Barry didn't want to hurt her at all; to him, she was the strongest person he had even known. She was smart, even though she pretended to be the 'dumb blonde', and she was everything he wanted in a partner. Barry knew in his heart that Iris moved on, as did Cisco and the others… and that knowledge made it easier to kiss Buffy again before pulling back and saying, "I love you, Buffy."

The Slayer smiled before kissing each other once again before parting. Barry said he needed to get back to work while Buffy said she needed to start her own work.

"Muffins?" asked Barry.

"Muffin's," Buffy replied before Barry kissed her again, and then zoomed out of the house and towards L.A. IN the meantime, a cheesy smile remained on Buffy's face, which went away once Anya asked if he was gone. "We got work to do, and then…. then I'm going home."

In the meantime, the Trio; Warren, Jonathan, and Andrew were in Andrews basement. The three of them were fuming at the failure of their first 'venture' together. In truth, only Jonathan pretended to be angry ever since coming back from the smoking van. Warren immediately hacked the Sunnydale DMV, and changed the name and address associated with the van so that the police wouldn't be able to find out it was them.

The three of them then stayed hidden the entire night in the event that Buffy found out their identities somehow. All the while they were arguing about how the Slayer may have found out about the camera in the room. They discussed every scenario, except for Jonathan betraying them; and her released a mental sigh of relief.

"You said you had a few tests?" asked Jonathan after they were discussing what went wrong until it was night, and the full moon was out.

"Oh yes," said Andrew while Warren kept his hand in his pocket as he felt the undergarment he stole from Buffy. Warren then said that it would take time to gather everything they needed.

"It would be like a competition," said Warren, "and at the same time; I'm going to find something that will give us control of the Slayer herself. Can you imagine? A Slayer on our side to rob banks? We'll be rich, and with those riches we can control the demon underground."

"We'll be real super-villains," said Andrew.

"Real supervillains," said Jonathan as he nodded excitedly at Warren while hoping that he didn't have any other dangerous plans in his head.

Central City, two days after Wally ran into STAR Labs.

Wally had just finished having lunch with a young woman and was rushing towards his car. The young man was looking forward to being the holographic version of the Flash. He knew that he wasn't the real thing, and was actually jealous that Jessie received Speedster powers earlier than he did despite being caught in the same dark matter explosion. However, he was still happy for her, and it gave him confidence in being able to help out as the latest version of the Flash. Even with the presence of Thea as the Red Arrow who had been helping him in his physical fitness, and with Caitlin's developing powers, he was still fine. Wally walked over to his car in the parking lot just as he heard the sound of screeching tyres in the distance. He looked around and found nothing of concern.

Shrugging his shoulders, Wally closed the driver side door and then turned the engine to his car. The young man then pulled out of the parking spot and headed down the road to the main street where cars were parked along the side of the road. He stopped his car ay the 'stop' sigh leading to the man road, and then turned on the radio before checking to see if it was safe to move. Determining that everything seemed to be alright, then Wally received a call on his cell phone, and he looked away for what seemed like a second and smiled at the Caller ID. It was a girl he had met last night who gave him her number. They had lunch only a few minutes ago, and she was calling him now.

Thinking it better to let the phone go to voicemail, Wally looked up at the windscreen and made the turn. Just as the driver side of the car entered the main street, Wally heard a loud honk. He looked to his left and his eyes opened wide at the accelerating car careening towards him. He felt himself get knocked back hard to the passenger side, the seat belt tearing, as the window and the door frame bent inwards. Wally saw everything in slow motion as electricity seemed to course through his body's cells. The young man was more surprised than shocked as he watched his hands while his body was flailing in slow motion. He saw lightning, yellow coloured lightning, crackling all over his arm before feeling a painful stinging sensation on his side. Wally looked down and saw a jagged piece of glass had pierced him. He released a scream of pain before he instinctively turned in mid-air and opened the passenger door with a pained expression on his face.

Using his momentum from the initial hit, Wally flew out the door at what seemed to anyone else, as a blur. He rolled on the ground before getting up and then running to the other car at super-speed. He took out the driver, who he swore stunk of alcohol, and brought him on the hospital while the damage to both of the cars rendered them undrivable. As Wally ran down a side road, the two cars stopped moving, with smoke billowing out as people started to run down to check on the commotion.

Slightly panicking after dropping off the man at the Emergency Room, Wally ran at super-speed towards STAR Labs, and then entered the Cortex before promptly fainting. His last thoughts were seeing Caitlin running towards him, followed by Dr. McGee, and his father yelling for his name.

At least that's what he remembered as he groaned while slowly moving his head from one side to the other while lying down on a soft cushioned surface. Figuring that he was lying on one of the beds, Wally heard the sounds of beeps from his left, and as he opened his eyes, the young man saw a fuzzy image. It soon cleared up a few seconds later, and he saw numbers on a machine that was taking his blood pressure before closing his eyes again. He was groaning from the dull ache on his side. Wally placed his hand on the side and felt the bandage before turning his head to look at the sleeping form of Iris on the chair with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Iris?" he groaned before looking up at the ceiling. Wally then looked at Iris once again as she stirred before opening her eyes. Once she saw that Wally had a small smile on his face, she quickly go up off the seat and rushed to her brother.

"Hey," she said placing a hand on his forehead while pressing a button on the wall calling for Caitlin and Dr. McGee. Iris then turned back to her brother and smiled before saying that his car was wrecked, and that he was extremely lucky. "Especially since you apparently don't need a car anymore."

"I'll need one if I'm going on a date," he whispered before giving a small smile, "what… what happened?"

"You ran all the way here," said Iris, "even managed to save the guy who hit you."

"How… how long was I out?"

"Two days," Iris said just as she heard hurried footsteps coming down the hallway. Soon, the footsteps got closer and closer until it was Cisco, Caitlin, and then Dr. McGee who rushed into the room.

"Sweet, man," said Cisco patting Wally on the shoulder, "welcome to the Flash club."

"Flash club?" asked Caitlin while she measured Wallis vitals while Dr. McGee asked Wally to follow the light being shone into his eyes, "don't call it that. Sounds like guys to go to the park and.. well… flash."

"Ok, bad idea," said Cisco while Iris chuckled.

"Dad?" asked Wally as Cisco snapped his fingers and then rushed out while yelling that he was going to call him. Iris then took over from Cisco and told Wally that Joe was called in for a triple homicide that could have been committed by a meta-human.

"Thea's with him," said Iris, "and Oliver's here to finally check-in with Laurel."

"Sweet," whispered Wally, "my powers?"

"I believe that the adrelenin which flooded your body once you were hit somehow jumpstarted your speed powers, Mr. West," said Dr. McGee as she looked at him with her hands in her pockets, "if you weren't hit by the dark matter energy wave, then you could have most likely died."

"And your wound is gone," said Caitlin as she took off the bandage. Iris and Dr. McGee gave a cursory look before nodding their heads impressed.

"But I still feel the pain," said Wally, "did Barry feel anything like this?"

"Your powers just activated, Wally," said Caitlin, "it's going to take a few days for your body to get used to what it could do. I doubt you'll feel anything like these shadow pains again. For today though, take it easy."

"Joe and Thea are on the way," said Cisco as he walked in while snapping his fingers and then pointing at Wally, "I know… you're going to be Kid Flash."

"No way am I being Kid…"

"You're Kid Flash," quipped Iris looking directly at Wally.

"But…."

"Kid…. Flash," said Iris slowly.

"Fine." Wally sighed before looking at Dr. McGee who said that they needed to run some tests on Wally. Wally nodded his head saying that he was up to it, which led Cisco to say that the treadmill was already prepared for Wally.

"Let's do this," he said.

The Pipeline, at that same time.

With Cisco and the others having to go after receiving a call from the Cortex, Oliver looked at the shut door in front of him leading to the Pipeline Prison, and sighed. He walked over to a panel and pressed some buttons before stepping back as the door rose to reveal Laurel in her cell. The both of them looked at each other, Oliver still being unable to not see the Laurel he once knew in this alternate version of her. The very same version he hadn't talked to for several weeks even though he wanted to.. even though every part of him was screaming at him to go over to STAR Labs and see her.

But he didn't.

Instead, it was Quintin who came by to see her every week. He was the one who chipped away at the rock that used to surround this Laurel surrounded herself in, until she finally talked to her father. They had several heart to heart talks, including the first few instances where she would simply scream at Quentin. Eventually she would tell him about what her own father had done, about how ruthlessly he chased her until she had no choice but to kill him with her sonic scream.

Oliver wasn't there when Laurel made that revelation, but Quintin told him how she broke down after she screamed at him that he would be next. That she would kill her father's alternate self as well.

"Ollie," said Laurel as she stared at Oliver who walked onto the platform.

"Laurel," nodded Oliver as she leaned against the wall, "Quintin said you wanted to see me". Oliver recalled what happened before he made his decision to finally visit Laurel. It was following Quintin's visit to the current Black Siren two days ago when her cell door was opened and the Captain walked into the cell while continuing to look into his daughter's eyes. The door to the pipeline closed behind them while Thea had an arrow primed to shoot past Quintin's shoulder and into Laurel's forehead.

Back in the present day, Oliver glanced at the power dampening bracelets around her wrists, the very same bracelets that Caitlin was using, and looked back up at her as the cell door started to slowly open. With the door out of the Pipeline locked, Oliver knew that Laurel wouldn't be able to escape.. and with the loss of her powers, it placed them on an equal playing field in terms of physical prowess.

Laurel stepped out of her cell and onto the platform while Oliver just stood still as he gauged the young woman in front of him. Just as he would any would-be opponent.

"When I saw you die…" said Laurel as she stood just outside the cell staring at Oliver, "I mean when I saw the news that you died on my Earth… you… you have no idea how it felt to…"

"I died here too," said Oliver.

"I know," answered Laurel, "for five years. But the Oliver I knew really died. And he died with my sister on board the Queen's Gambit. And that broke me, Ollie."

"It was the same between me and Sara too," admitted Oliver as Laurel looked away while crossing her arms around her chest, "except we're alive, and my dad was the one who died."

"I met your father again when I was Black Siren," said Laurel as she looked at the floor of the particle accelerator, "it was after I joined up with Zoom. Seeing the surprise on his face was actually funny. The first time we faced each other, I told him to put his bow and arrow away… and I won't kill him."

"Did he?" asked Oliver as he imagined his father aiming a bow and arrow.

"He fired two arrows at me," Laurel chuckled. I remember ducking and rolling before screaming at him. I pushed him back but… I couldn't kill him."

"Why?" asked Oliver.

"Because.. despite my hate for you… despite you cheating on me… a part of me still loved you," said Laurel looking at Oliver, "a part of me will always love you. And your family was always good to me… so I let your father live. And I ran away. Then I learn about this new Earth from Zoom, one where you're alive and I just died. You watched her die.. and I…"

"I tried to stop my Laurel from picking up the Canary name," said Oliver taking a step forward, "I wanted her to stop once I found out what she was doing. But she didn't want to stop… the good in her wanted to protect the innocent. Just as the good in you stopped yourself from killing my father. Quintin said you wanted to talk to me, and…"

"I did," said Laurel, "I'm not going to make any excuses about why I did what I did… I'm not going to say that Zoom forced me to do all those things. All I'm going to say is that if Quentin… if… if the father that your Laurel Lance had is any different that the father I knew… then maybe it's time I tried to find myself again."

"Meaning?" asked Oliver confused about what she was talking about.

"I guess dad didn't clue you in," said Laurel, "guess he thought that you'd say 'no'. Which is why I wanted to talk to you in person. I'm tired of being in the cell. So Dad, and the white-hats here, and Thea suggested a tracker at the base of my neck so that I could be on a 'work-release' program."

"Yea, you're right," said Oliver while thinking to himself that he needed to have a word with Quintin and Thea, "I'd have said no."

"I won't be allowed to leave Central City," said Laurel, "and the tracker will be placed close to my spine so if I try tearing it out, then I'll be paralysed. And these dampeners prevent me from using my powers."

"No."

"They won't be affected by my scream," said Laurel as she held up her bracelets on her wrists while taking a few more steps towards Oliver, "and if I do use my scream on the bracelets, the tracker would release an electric charge into my nervous system, and I'll be knocked unconscious. Plus, these particular ones are remotely activated… and the white-hats here are the only ones with access."

"It's still dangerous," said Oliver as he reached for, and placed her hands in his. He looked at the bracelets, and then then looked up at Laurel's face. He looked for indications that she was being deceptive, and found nothing. He noticed that her arms were tensed, and could tell it meant that she was holding herself back from attacking him. "Laurel…"

"Thea already volunteered to shadow me," said Laurel as Oliver frowned, "there's every safeguard in place in case I simply up and leave. But I won't."

"Fine," said Oliver as he looked at her face. He wanted to place his hand on her cheek, and then lean in and kiss her. But he knew that this was the very same Laurel who brought down three buildings with her scream… murdering people in the process. Oliver fought his instinct to kiss her, and to distrust her, by saying that she was to stay by Thea's side at all times.

"I'll show you," said Laurel gently, "I'll show all of you that I can redeem myself."

TBC.