"-- what do you want for your birthday?" Tommy leaned against the top of the bar, peering at me over the rim of his glass. "It's coming up in a few weeks and--" He pointed his finger in my direction before he added, "-- don't you dare say you want a puppy again."

A pout instantly formed on my lips once the words left his mouth. The loud music and chatter of the party nearly drowned out his soft chuckle, but my ears were able to pick the sound up. I nodded my head in gratitude when a bar tended replaced my empty glass with a new white russian.

"I think a puppy would be a great addition to our family," I told my brother, taking a sip of my drink.

"Hensley, we aren't home enough to take care of one." Tommy threw his head back on his shoulders. "And I'm not going to be the one to clean up after it when it decides to use our living room as a bathroom."

I waved at Chase over my shoulder, where he stood only a few feet away from my bar stool, knowing I felt better when he was closer in such a large crowd. "Of course not, Tommy. That would be Chase's job."

Chase shot a heavy glare in my direction. "My job is to protect you, not clean up shit from a dog."

I giggled at his response. I rolled my eyes at the two of them before my eyes settled back onto my brother. "Okay, fine. What if we got one that was already trained? Just think about how many girls you could get if you had a puppy. Girls love dogs."

"There's only one girl I want," Tommy responded and took a sip of his drink. His eyes darted through the mass of people, searching for where Laurel disappeared off to.

I pressed my lips together, silently thinking about how Oliver had looked at Laurel earlier. He was trying to push her away, but that look on his face showed that he was still in love with her. I didn't want to see either of them getting hurt, but what scared me most was knowing how my brother would feel if Laurel ever picked Oliver over him.

"I know," I replied, rubbing his arm in a comforting manner.

"Anyways," Tommy cleared his throat, desperate to change the subject. He nodded his head at the dancefloor. "I haven't seen you kick out your favorite dance moves yet."

I narrowed my eyes at him, knowing he was referring to my awful dance moves I would do when I would watch Footloose back home. He had caught me one time and he refused to ever let it go.

"You're a terrible brother."

A small snicker came from Chase. I whipped around in my seat, shooting a playful glare at him as well, which only made the smile on his face grow broader. I shook my head at the two of them teaming up against me.

"You haven't danced either," I reminded him.

"I'm not much of a dancer."

I raised a brow at him. "Dance off?"

"Hensley, no." Tommy shook his head, laughing quietly. "We are not starting a dance off in the middle of this party. Neither of us need to embarrass ourselves like that."

I glanced at the dance floor over my shoulder. I stretched my arm out toward Chase, wiggling my fingers in the air. "Dance with me?"

He was the only person in this whole building I trusted enough to dance with, aside from my own brother, but that would just be weird and awkward with this upbeat music. The two of us had grown so close over the years that we were more like best friends than a bodyguard and his client. I wouldn't have asked Chase if I knew he wouldn't be able to keep on guard while we danced. Chase was an excellent multitasker.

"Good luck." Tommy stood up and patted his shoulder as he walked away from us.

"One dance, Hensley." Chase gave in.

I nodded my head, eagerly. "Deal!" I placed my hand in his as he lead me further into the dance floor, making sure he didn't lose me in the crowd.

Thea was right about Chase being attractive, but I could never see him as anything more than being my best friend. That was a line that we would never cross or ever want to.

Chase came to a stop near the edge of the dance floor, just before the stairs began to lead upstairs. His hand tightened on mine as he pulled me forward and spinning me around once. Halfway through the spin, I spotted a group of officers being lead up the lower level stairs by Detective Lance.

"Okay, let's go. Move," he ordered the officers behind him as they swarmed into the venue. "Cut it. Search the building, roof to basement. Find him!"

The hand on mine gently forced me back to Chase's side as he saw the men coming up the stairs. He stood protectively in front of me. As Detective Lance yelled at the DJ to shut off the music, Tommy forced his way through the crowd to stand beside the two of us, watching the scene unfold in front of us.

"Starling City police! The party's over, kids!"

The room filled with the crowd yelling 'boo' at Detective Lance and his officers. The music cut off and several of the other officers began to search the building. What the hell was going on here? Who were they looking for?

"Oh," Detective Lance noticed the three of us standing at the edge of the crowd. "Mr. and Mrs. Merlyn," he narrowed his eyes, singling the two of us out. He stopped in front of us. "Imagine my shock at finding you two here."

My own eyes narrowed at the detective. I dropped Chase's hand, deciding to step between my brother and him, turning protective over Tommy. Detective Lance's attitude he had toward Tommy and I was seriously growing on my nerves. He had no right to treat us this way.

"Did you roofie anyone special tonight, huh?" He demanded to know.

"Detective!" I snapped at his comment toward my brother.

His eyes drifted down to my face, lip practically curling. "I should have know you would be here, too, Hensley. The Merlyn siblings never leave each other's sides, do they?"

Chase pushed his shoulders back, gently nudging me back behind him. He knew I furious I was from the way I clenched my jaw. There was nothing I wanted more than to punch the smirk off of Detective Lance's face.

"Detective!" Oliver appeared out of thin air. He walked up from behind the three of us before he stopped just a few inches from where I stood partially behind Chase. He made sure to leave a small gap between us, remembering how I didn't like to be touched. "It's a private party."

By now, the whole crowd of people at the party had focused their attention on us, curious to know why the music ceased. The other officers continued to weave their way through the mass of people and through the other floors of the building.

"Yeah? Well, there was an incident at Adam Hunt's building tonight." Detective Lance explained. His head snapped in Oliver's direction. "You know anything about that?"

"Who's Adam Hunt?" Oliver asked in a less than amused voice. Honestly, he sounded like he didn't care at all.

Everyone in Starling City knew who Adam Hunt was. He was one of the richest men here and he was someone that you never wanted to get on your bad side because he had connections that would never get his hands bloody once. I was curious to know what happened to him to have the police storm into our party.

"He's a millionaire bottom feeder, and I'm kind of surprised you aren't friends." Detective Lance commented with ignorance.

"I've been out of town for..." Oliver paused for a few seconds before he finished his train of thought, "...a while."

The corner of Tommy's lips pulled upward in a smirk, glancing at his best friend.

"Yeah, well, he just got attacked by the guy with the hood. The guy that saved your ass the other day."

A creased formed in my forehead at the mention of the new vigilante. Who the hell was this guy? I slowly glanced in the direction of the closest window, peering down at the large building next door. How could the hood guy be next door this whole time? I brought my attention back to Oliver when I heard him speak again.

"The hood guy? You didn't find him? I'm gonna offer a reward." Oliver spun around to address the rest of the party with one arm raised in the air. "Hey, everybody! Two million to anybody that can find a nut bar in a green hood."

The crowd cheered. Quietly, I scoffed under my breath. If anyone was going to find this hood guy, it was going to be me. The best way to find another vigilante was to be one yourself. Why did this guy just randomly show up in Starling City?

Detective Lance stepped forward to stand directly in front of Oliver. "Did you even try to save her?" His tone was harsher than before.

Detective Hilton quickly realized the abrupt change in behavior in his partner, swooping in to stand between Oliver and him, wrapping an arm around the front of his chest. "Okay. Let's go, partner."

"Did you even try to save my daughter?" Detective Lance kept his voice low, angrily glaring at Oliver's face while attempting to resist his partner pushing him away.

"Sara wouldn't want this," Detective Hilton told him.

I angled my body to watch the two of them move further away from the dance floor. The grudge he held toward Oliver was bound to never go away. If Laurel had still been at the party, she surely would have interfered by now instead of letting her father go off like this.

"It's not--"

"Partner, let's go. It's alright. Let's go." Detective Hilton refused to give up on pushing Detective Lance in the direction of the exit. Luckily, he gave in to his partner's pushing and turned around to leave without uttering another word.

"I'm getting really sick of the way he treats us," I whispered to Tommy, folding my arms over my chest. I glimpsed at my brother to see him already looking at me with a grim expression written on his facial features.

Oliver hung his head for a few seconds before he walked over to the platform closest to our group. He climbed up the few stairs and looked around at the party-goers, who all stared up at him in silence. "It's way too quiet in here! This is a party!" He shouted.

The quiet crowd transformed back into their moods they were in before the party had been intruded by the police. They held their glasses in their hands, high in the air, cheering for the third time tonight. The DJ turned the music back on, letting the sound blare through the speakers positioned all around the room. Once the party picked up where it left off, Oliver jogged down the steps of the platform, stopping when Tommy stepped out in front of him on the ground.

"Some coincidence, I mean, you asking to have your party here, and Hunt getting robbed right next door and by the same guy who rescued us at the warehouse," Tommy shouted over the loud music.

I twisted my head in their direction, eavesdropping on their conversation. Tommy had a point. All of it was quite odd, a strange coincidence. I shared a look with Chase, both of us wondering who the new vigilante in Starling City was. Both of us knew that we would have to start doing research on finding out who the Hood Guy was before he could become a major issue for this city.

"If I were you, Tommy, I'd just be glad you're alive."

Tommy slowly lowered his martini glass from his mouth, gawking at his best friend. "What h-happened to you on that island?"

"A lot," Oliver simply answered.

I tugged on Chase's jacket, bringing his attention down to me. "Let's go home. I'm no longer in the mood to party." My voice managed to carry over to where Tommy and Oliver were.

Tommy cocked his head around when he heard my declaration. "Are you okay?" He switched into protective brother mode. He gently placed his hand on my bicep, giving it a small squeeze and tried to make eye contact with me.

I nodded once. "Yeah, Tommy, I'm fine." I peeked at Chase before I added, "I don't think I'll ever truly return back to my old partying self. We'll see you back at the apartment, okay?"

He set his hand on the middle of my back, pulling me close to his body to press a soft kiss to my temple. "Call me if you need me." Tommy stepped back and nodded his head at Chase. "Keep an eye on her."

"Always," Chase promised.

I waited until we were nearly to the car in the parking garage near by before I spoke in a confident voice, "I don't know who this Hood Guy is, but I'm going to catch him."

||||

I just really love the friendship that Hensley has with Chase. If any of you possibly ship them together, I am telling you right now that will NEVER happen. I already have my plans set in stone for who she ends up with. Nothing will change that.

Not much really happened in this chapter. You did see a cute sibling moment between Hensley and Tommy, though. I hate that Tommy dies at the end of the season. I HATE it so much. I don't want to do that to Hensley.

I don't think any of you are prepared for what I have in store for Hensley.

Question: How did you feel about this chapter?

So, yeah!