Lessons Learned

Chapter 7 - There's no shame in hiding behind Felicity

Chapter 7 - There's no shame in hiding behind Felicity 

AN - This chapter broke from the S2 storyline and actually skips to the future! I changed the story set-up to be independent stories that pertain directly to the Lessons as S2 got very dark for quite a while with whole Sara then Slade story arcs! 

DISCLAIMER - I have no legal claim to play but I feel I deserve to play after the angst of Saying Goodbye!

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Roy pulled Thea along after him even as he typed a quick text to Felicity - 911 Bringing Thea to lair. 

"Roy! What are you doing? We need to go to QC - I need to talk to Ollie about his whole secret identity thing! You can't just drop that bomb ... are you texting someone? Now?" 

Roy winced as Thea's voice rose to an octave that alerted all neighborhood dogs of her annoyance. 

"Yeah, big brother Ollie has quite the temper so I'm calling for reinforcements." 

He hadn't intended to actually give up Team Arrow but Thea was tenacious about his lame cover stories and missing time so they argued a lot lately. This particular argument started with a moment of weakness as Roy had snuck into Thea's room early this morning just to see her. It had been a rough night for the Team and those missions always made him glad he had her to come home to as she was still his only inspiration sometimes. 

Thea hadn't been angry but she was concerned about his dark mood. She had revealed the hurt she felt that he didn't trust her and looking back now Roy could see that was the beginning of the end of him. It didn't help though that when she threatened to bring in Oliver that Roy had actually laughed out loud. 

If he survived the aftermath now though he was pretty sure he would be glad he no longer needed to lie to his girlfriend ... again, assuming his new healing abilities were good enough to handle to an irate overly protective brother with a tendency to shoot arrows. Despite training for a while now Roy knew he still wouldn't be able to defeat Oliver and definitely not an Oliver that was out of control. This is why Roy was texting Felicity - there really was no shame in hiding behind the small blond woman in times like this. 

Roy continued to field Thea's questions and accusations as best as he could while still being vague. Luckily she was still so shocked and locked in on the Team's #1 Lesson that she couldn't really get beyond her big brother being the Arrow. Roy just continued to drive quickly as he checked his phone for Felicity's response. 

WHAT? Roy, what have you done?! 

Roy winced at that angry response from his one potential ally. Shit! Roy was so wrapped up in his own drama that he didn't factor in that Felicity's first concern would always be Oliver. Maybe I should just get Lesson #1 tattooed on so I don't forget again. Roy was momentarily distracted by the funny images that brought to mind but quickly refocused on Thea as she cried out again. 

"Oh my God! Mom shot the Vigilante?! Mom shot Oliver? I already knew this family was screwed up but ... Roy!" 

Roy didn't really know how to help Thea process and if he was honest he was hoping Felicity would step in for that too. He did still shoot a concerned look at her even as he dropped the phone to hold her hand. 

"It really will be okay Thea - you'll see, this isn't a bad thing." Roy almost started sharing more information about Oliver's exploits, Felicity's off the chart hacking skills, Diggle's total awesomeness but he didn't think Thea would be quite as impressed as he was by the Team right now.