Lessons Learned

Chapter 2 - Relearning Lesson #1

Chapter 2 - Relearning Lesson #1 

AN - Not episode related but still set early in Roy's time with the Team! A reader on fanfic.net brought up Roy re-learning Lesson #1 in different situations which hadn't occurred to me originally so a lot of blame goes to you my friend! 

DISCLAIMER: I love them but I don't believe that makes them mine!

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It was hard to continue to number all the Lessons Roy learned but he did continue to add to both lists. One was the public list that Felicity created and had actually written down and posted in the lair. The most recent additions included (again by Felicity): #11 - Plan B is no more likely to work than Plan A so make sure you have a Plan C, #12 - Horror movies have taught us to never say "I'll be right back" unless you want to run into trouble and #13 - "Hacking" is such an ugly term, we are simply borrowing intel from others. All of the public notes were up for Team discussion and comment and while Diggle and Felicity bantered about them Oliver had never weighed in. 

Roy actually added more serious notes for himself as both Oliver and Diggle continued to train him in hand-to-hand combat. He had gained more control over his strength but he still couldn't overpower Oliver when they sparred. The man was like a machine as he just kept coming at you but he was super hard to catch so Roy didn't land nearly as many shots as he did. Oliver also taught him his own brand of parkour training that usually included rooftops, dark alleys and more than a few broken bones as Roy still struggled with precision over power. 

As for the second list, well, Roy wasn't stupid enough to write down his private Lessons but he did continue to add new points there too. He now knew Felicity's preferred caffeine choices (they varied depending on the time of day and stress of the mission) and that Diggle had dated his sister-in-law who was still their connection at Big Belly Burger. He felt more and more comfortable with both Felicity and Diggle and that really did help him deal with continuing to lie to others. Roy still felt like the newbie but as the Team really felt like a second family that was ok. He had started to really look forward to his time at the lair especially even if Oliver was there. 

Both Diggle and Felicity seemed to speak freely enough with Oliver and Felicity was particularly vocal but Roy didn't think everyone would survive arguing with the Oliver Queen or the Arrow that well. For his part, Oliver was still someone who Roy was cautious about, not intimidated by, but concern is appropriate if someone throws you across a room for teaching a girl to box. Oliver was usually quiet even when they trained so much of the information Roy had on him came from Felicity and Diggle. They weren't divulging state secrets or anything and Roy knew they were loyal to Oliver. Felicity was especially protective of Oliver...See Lesson #1, Roy reminded himself with a laugh. He had put a few pieces together though so one of his Lessons now included things not to mention to Oliver. The obvious topics to avoid included the Island, his scars and Thea but Roy also now included some guy named Barry Allen. 

Roy had no clue who Barry Allen was other than the fact that he had created the mask Oliver wore. You'd think that would make him a friend so Roy didn't think asking about him would be wrong. It was safe to assume Oliver disagreed as Roy came face to face with a growling glaring Arrow after voicing his question. That was not the person you wanted to spar with so Roy immediately added the name Barry Allen to the list of topics not to be discussed and shut up. 

Roy had considered asking Thea about Barry Allen but discarded that idea as it still best for him to keep her completely separate from his training with the Arrow. He actually tried to avoid any time with Thea's family as it just felt weird to see Oliver Queen like that now. Roy knew Thea loved her older brother but he also knew she didn't really know him now and wasn't sure if she could accept him. Roy couldn't think about whether or not she would accept him either. That was what made their situation a ticking time bomb in his mind and Roy really wanted to avoid that explosion. One part of his plan to guarantee that was to avoid any contact with Oliver outside of the lair so he was annoyed that Thea was dragging him to Queen Consolidated before they could go to lunch.