"I see that building a new team is not going as smoothly as we anticipated." Laurel said to Oliver as he entered the bunker after the recruits most recent training session.
"They all quit. I don't know what I was thinking when I agreed to train a new team. They're impossible to train. Rene is a maniac and a loose cannon that questions me at every turn, Curtis, Curtis is completely inexperienced and the only future I see him having in operations is behind a desk, Evelyn seems to think that I'm going to hold her hand at every turn and Rory, well, he doesn't seem to be a team player." Oliver said angrily before he caught the amused look on Laurel's face.
"What?" Oliver asked.
"This all just sounds very familiar to me. After all, I believe the original team had a very similar line up. Roy was the loose cannon, I was completely inexperienced, Thea and Felicity both seemed to expect you to guide them at first and well, you weren't exactly a team player when you first started out either Ollie. But you know how we got through all that to become the well organized crime fighting team we were. We trusted each other completely. After all, I don't think any of us really trusted the Hood or the Arrow or even the Green Arrow until we found out who it was under that hood. Do you really expect the recruits to trust someone to lead them when all they see is a man in a hood and a mask?" Laurel asked him and she could tell that Oliver wasn't willing to back down from his position that easily.
"It took me years 5 in Hell to turn into someone capable of going out there." Oliver began, only to have Laurel interrupt him.
"Oh, were those 5 years just full of pain and suffering, or did you have someone who taught you?" Laurel asked him.
"I had a few people who taught me, and I was trying to teach them." Oliver protested.
"What, to take a punch? An insult? You keep expecting them to do what you're telling them to do, and then you're not giving them any reason. You just keep jabbing them with a cattle prod, expecting them to perform." Laurel reminded him and she could tell that now Oliver looked defeated, right as Curtis came down.
"Curtis, do you know what the purpose of that exercise is?" Oliver asked, wondering if Curtis had figured it out.
"To figure out the purpose of this exercise?" Curtis said.
"No, it's to work together, because that's the only way that you win. That is what I have been trying to teach all of you." Oliver said.
"Well, maybe there's a reason why you couldn't. We don't trust you." Curtis said.
"That's on you." Oliver told him.
"No, man. That's on you. Because you don't trust us, because you don't want us." Curtis said and Oliver couldn't deny that.
"Ok, this is a setback, but we can salvage this. They'll listen to you. Can you just tell them how Oliver usually approaches things and." Laurel began.
"I tried that. I told them all about how you guys and Speedy and Spartan and Overwatch were a family, and even though you were tough and scary and even a little abusive, they clearly trusted you because they stood by you. But then it hit me. No, they didn't. They left, and now I know why. You don't respect people. You don't know how to have partners. You don't build people up. You tear them down. I thought I could trust you- we could trust you. I was wrong. And that's why I'm out, too." Curtis said as he then walked out.
"You can't deny that he made a few good points Ollie. I mean, I can remember how you took me being the Black Canary at first. You tried to stop me." Laurel said.
"But eventually I came around after you proved to me that you could handle it." Oliver reminded her.
"Yeah, but we already trusted each other. I knew who you were. The recruits, they don't. All they see is a man in a mask who doesn't seem to want them. You have to meet them halfway." Laurel said.
"You're right. I failed these recruits as a leader." Oliver finally admitted.
"Well, that's because you're not a leader. Well, in your defense, you never set out to be. You never planned on doing this with partners. Though, I don't think you really ever had a way around that one." Laurel said.
"How so?" Oliver asked.
"When I got to know the you who came back from Lian Yu and then when I found out who you were, I was in awe about how different you were from the man who cheated on me with my own sister.. I had never met somebody so passionate So focused and determined to make a real difference. But the recruits didn't get to see the real you because all you showed them was this angry guy in a mask, like scary angry." Laurel told him.
"I just thought that if they didn't know who I was, it would make things easier." Oliver said.
"How would that make things easier for them? " Laurel asked, confused.
"For me. Easier for me." Oliver clarified.
"When I was in the Bratva ." Oliver began.
"You never talk about your time in Russia." Laurel interrupted.
"Nobody in the Bratva uses their real names. Nobody knows anything about anyone's life before they were Bratva." Oliver told her.
"Sounds lonely." Laurel said as she put her hand on Oliver's shoulder.
"It's effective. They teach you that the only person you can trust is yourself, that without personal attachment, there can be no loss. Felicity, Thea, Dig, even Roy. I let them into my crusade. I let them in then they left. I was protecting myself." Oliver finally admitted.
"I just think you're missing something." Laurel said.
"Only one thing?" Oliver asked her and Laurel smiled.
"The reason the original team worked so well was because of the trust and respect that everyone had for Oliver Queen, not the Green Arrow. Oliver is the one who makes a good leader. He's the one that runs a good team. He's the one that I chose to stand by and that I continue to choose to stand by. He's the one I chose to fall in love with all over again." Laurel said as she kissed his cheek before leaving Oliver to his thoughts.