After the end-of-day bell rang, Amber waited on the sidewalk outside with all of the other students who rode with their parents to and from school. She searched the sea of cars for one motorcycle but only found Jessica leaning against her car.
"Where's Oliver?" Amber asked as she walked up to her stepmom.
"Couldn't make it," Jessica said, walking around the car and sliding into the driver's seat. "Something came up and he asked me to come pick you up."
"Oh." Amber climbed into the passenger seat.
"Jeez, don't look too excited." Jessica sassed.
"No, I like being with you. I just really wanted to ride on the motorcycle again." Amber explained.
"Motorcycle?" Jessica raised her eyebrows.
"Yes."
"Please tell me you wore a helmet."
"Duh."
Jessica sighed in relief. "Thank God."
Amber furrowed her eyebrows. "You're not mad?"
"No." Jessica shook her head. "You had a helmet on, safety precautions were made. I'm just surprised that Oliver ditched Diggle just to take you to school."
"Oh, Diggle quit."
"He quit?"
"Yeah. Now there's this new guy named Rob." Amber informed. "I don't like him."
"Do you know why Dig quit?" Jessica questioned, ignoring Amber's comment for the time being.
"Grandma said he got tired of Oliver ditching him."
Jessica gritted her teeth. "Great."
* * *
Jessica sat across from Diggle in a booth at Big Belly Burger. She leaned forward on her crossed arms, staring her friend down.
"How long are you gonna give me that death glare?" Diggle asked, breaking the aggressive silence.
"As long as it takes."
"This really isn't any of your business, Jess."
"I got you the job," Jessica argued.
"You got me an interview." Diggle corrected. "And I only took the job as a favor to you and your brother."
"He's dead." Jessica deadpanned. "You can't do a favor for a dead person."
"No, but I can do a favor for next of kin."
Jessica rolled her eyes. "You know, the reason I recommended you to Moira was so that you could protect Amber when I can't."
"I was Oliver's bodyguard." Diggle pointed out.
"Oh, come on. You went from Oliver Queen's personal bullet shield to security coordinator for the whole Queen family." Jessica said. "You are just that good and there's no one else I trust to protect Amber. Other than me."
Before Diggle could respond, Carly came up with a basket of fries. "Did you break him yet?" She asked Jessica.
"Nope." Jessica sighed heavily.
"Are you two ganging up on me?" Diggle gestured between the two women.
"Yes. So, when are you gonna tell me?" Carly crossed her arms.
"Hm?"
"About what happened to your arm.?" Carly said.
"It's my shoulder, and it's-- it's fine," Diggle said. Jessica scoffed at him.
"I knew that Queen guy was trouble." Carly fumed.
"Hey, I never said this happened protecting Queen." Diggle countered.
"Then why did you quit?" Jessica asked.
"Seriously?" Diggle gave Jessica a defeated look.
Carly turned her gaze to the restaurant's entrance. "Oh yeah? Then what's he doing here?" She nodded toward Oliver Queen and his new bodyguard.
"So that's Rob." Jessica thought out loud.
"Area is secure, sir." Rob turned towards Oliver.
Jessica snorted, having heard Rob. "Oh my god, he's a dweeb." She turned back to Diggle. "You're seriously letting that guy protect my kid?"
"He's not that bad."
"Uh-huh."
"Hello, Diggle's sister-in-law Carly." Oliver greeted, interrupting the conversation. He reached his hand out, which Carly took. "I'm Oliver Queen."
"I know who you are." Carly sassed.
"No, you really don't," Diggle interjected. With that, Carly left to continue working.
"Jess, can I talk with Diggle alone for a minute?" Oliver asked.
"Fine." Jessica gave in rather easily, sliding out of the booth. "Have fun." She told Diggle before walking over to the bartop.
Oliver took Jessica's place at the booth. "I didn't realize you two were so close."
"I served with her brother in Afghanistan," Diggle explained quickly. "But I'm pretty sure you don't want to talk about my friendship with Jess."
"I couldn't help but notice a distinct lack of police cars when I got home, I knew you wouldn't drop a dime on me," Oliver said. "So, have you considered my offer?"
"Offer?" Diggle scoffed. "That's one hell of a way to put it."
"It is an offer. It's a chance to do the kind of good that compelled you to join the military."
"Please. You were born with a platinum spoon in your mouth, Queen. What, you spent five years on an island with no room service and suddenly you found religion?"
Oliver dug around his jacket pocket, pulling out a small, worn-out, leather-bound book. "This was my father's."
Diggle flipped through the pages briefly with his good hand. After a few seconds, Oliver took it back. "I found it when I buried him."
"I thought you said your father died when the boat went down."
"We both made it to a life raft but there wasn't enough food and water for both of us, so he shot himself in the head," Oliver explained. "And as much as he was doing it to give me a chance to survive, I believe that he was also atoning for his sins. I need to right the wrongs done by my family. I need to make the city safer for my daughter. And I'm offering you the chance to right the wrongs done to yours."
"Oliver, what are you talking about?"
"The police never caught your brother's shooter."
"Hey." Diggle leaned over the table, pointing an angry finger at Oliver. "You leave Andy out of this."
"The bullets were laced with curare. That's Floyd Lawton's MO. He is the sniper... that I stopped." Oliver referred to the man who shot up the Unidac Industries auction right before Diggle discovered Oliver's secret identity.
"Are you trying to tell me that you took down Andy's killer?"
"I'm-- I'm giving you the chance. A chance to help other people's families. Do you remember when the people in this city helped each other? They can't do that anymore because a group of people-- people like my father-- they see nothing wrong with raising themselves up by stepping on other people's throats. It does need to stop. And if it's not gonna be the courts, and it's not gonna be the cops... then it's gonna be me." Oliver gestured to Diggle with the book. "And I hope you."
Oliver stood up, gaining Rob's attention. The over-eager bodyguard approached his client.
"I'm gonna go to the washroom, Rob." Oliver lied. He walked quickly towards the restroom, leaving Rob completely oblivious.
Several seconds passed while Rob waited for Oliver, standing readily next to Diggle.
"Oh, that boy's long gone, man," Diggle said. "Phew." He gestured towards the restroom.
Rob's head whipped up, his eyes filled with panic.
* * *
Over the next two days, Rob quit, Diggle decided to help Oliver with his vigilante mission, and Detective Lance had gotten an arrest warrant for Oliver.
However, the warrant was kept secret from Jessica so she showed up at the mansion like it was a normal day. She walked into the parlor right when Oliver and Diggle shook hands in some agreement.
"Aw, you made up," Jessica said teasingly.
"I had to. You wouldn't stop texting me." Diggle joked.
Jessica rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Is Amber ready yet?" She asked Oliver.
"She was just in the kitchen grabbing breakfast," He answered.
As if on cue, Amber strolled into the parlor, a chocolate chip muffin in hand. She glanced around at the three adults. "Did I miss something?"
"Dig's back," Jessica said.
"You're back?" Amber looked over
"Looks that way." Diggle smiled at her.
"Thank god. Rob really creeped me out." Amber said.
"We know." Jessica and Oliver replied in unison. When Amber had an opinion, she made it known. And her opinion of Rob was no different.
"All right, enough chit-chat. You need to go to school." Jessica placed her hands on Amber's shoulders, steering her toward the front door only to get distracted by an army of cops busting through and marching inside.
"Oliver Queen!" One of the cops called.
"What is this?" Walter questioned Quentin. "You can't just barge in here."
"Yeah? Well, I got a badge and a gun that say different." Quentin sassed.
Oliver walked out of the parlor, a similar facial expression to Amber's on his own face. "Hey, what the hell's going on?"
"Oliver, what's happening?" Thea stopped halfway down the stairs, watching with worry as her brother was put in handcuffs.
"Lance, what the hell?" Jessica shouted, stomping toward the detective.
"Oliver Queen, you are under arrest on suspicion of obstruction of justice, aggravated assault--"
"Walter, stop them!" Thea begged.
"What are you doing?" Jessica growled at Lance.
"Carrying out my warrant." Lance handed Jessica the piece of paper.
She snatched the paper out of Lance's hands. "Unbelievable."
"You can't do this," Amber said, stepping forward only to get pushed back by a random officer.
The unwelcome action pissed Amber off. So she did the only thing she could think of. She kicked him in the balls. Hard.
The officer bent over, hands covering the spot Amber kicked. He glared at her. "You little--" He straightened up and took a threatening step toward.
Diggle put himself between Amber and the cop. "She's just a kid. Back up."
"-- trespassing, acting as a vigilante..." Quentin continued with the charges. With all the chaos happening, no one else noticed Amber's act of assault.
"Are you out of your mind?" Oliver shouted.
"... And murder." Quentin finished. He and another detective grabbed his arms, leading him out of the mansion, the second detective read him his rights.
"They-- they can't do that, can they?" Amber looked up at the adults left in the room.
Moira pulled her granddaughter into a hug. "Don't worry. Oliver's going to be fine." She assured
Amber as well as herself.
"I'll fix this," Jessica promised the family before storming out after the cops.
A/N: Jessica and Diggle's friendship might just be the best relationship I've ever written so far. But Amber kicking a cop between the legs is definitely the most iconic thing to come out of my brain.