"Any idea why the green guy called us here?" Rene asked as he, Curtis, Evelyn and Rory all gathered in the training area.
"I'm here because I owe you all an apology." Green Arrow said as he, and to the recruits' surprise, Black Canary and Arsenal entered the room.
"Well this is something I've gotta hear." Rene said as they all turned to face the Green Arrow.
"First I want to thank you all for coming back." Green Arrow began.
"We only came back because we heard you were going to be apologizing." Evelyn said.
"Look, very recently, someone told me that if I'm going to be able to trust you, then you should also be able to trust me. And now I realize that if you can't trust someone that you don't even know the true identity of. So I wanted to let you know that if you agree to come back, you won't just be signing on with the Green Arrow." Oliver said as he lowered his hood and mask and Laurel and Roy did the same.
"You'll be signing on with Oliver Queen." Oliver said.
"So wait a minute, the Green Arrow is really the mayor, the Black Canary is the District Attorney and Arsenal is really the old Arrow." Evelyn said.
"I had the same cognitive dissonance." Curtis said, rubbing it in their faces that he already knew their identities before the others.
"Actually, I was the Arrow. Roy was just taking the fall for me to atone for a crime he'd done a year prior." Oliver said and by the look on Roy's face, the recruits knew not to ask.
"I hope you don't think I'm going to apologize for the trash I talked about you." Rene said.
"No more than I'm going to apologize for the tough training, but I understand that you all need to trust me. This is as far as I know how to go." Oliver said.
"You're sort of asking without asking if we want to come back, right?" Rory asked.
"That's exactly what he's doing." Laurel said.
"Ok. Good. Then I'm in." Rory said.
"So am I." Evelyn said.
"Me, too, but if future training is going to be like this, I think that at least until I get up to speed with the rest of you guys, I'm mostly going to just work the comms." Curtis said and Oliver nodded before turning to Rene.
"Wild Dog?" Oliver asked him.
"I'll fight any war as long as I trust who's leading me into battle But we have got to rethink this codename." Rene said and Oliver smiled.
"No chance." Oliver said with a smile.
"So, what happens now?" Evelyn asked.
"Now, Roy and Laurel are going to help me begin your real training." Oliver said as the three of them grinned in a way that the recruits did not like.
The next night, Green Arrow and Arsenal were following some low level drug dealer on a rooftop while Laurel and the recruits watched from the training facility.
"So what are we looking at here?" Rory asked.
"Carl Roberto. Frequent flyer at Iron Heights and I know this because I'm actually the one who prosecuted him the last time he was caught." Laurel said.
"Seems like the only thing he's good at is getting arrested." Rene commented.
"He's not much of a challenge for the Green Arrow." Curtis pointed out.
"He's not looking for a challenge. This is about teaching the 4 of you what happens out there and how to handle it." Laurel said.
"Well, I'm up for any lesson that doesn't involve him punching us in the face." Evelyn said and the others nodded their agreement as they watched Roberto punch Green Arrow.
"Oh, he's gonna get it now." Rene said.
After dealing with Roberto, Oliver and Roy entered the facility and Oliver gave the sample to Curtis.
"Thanks, I've always wanted to try drugs." Curtis said sarcastically.
"Not funny. I need you to analyze this at your lab and see if you can if you can figure out where this is being manufactured." Oliver said and Curtis nodded.
"Actually, I think my office may have an idea on where to at least start our search for Derek Sampson." Laurel said.
"And while analysis and forensics is cool and all, but that stuff takes time. I know the neighborhood where this dealer's slinging out of. I think I can guess where the Stardust is being made." Rene said.
Oliver looked towards Laurel and Roy and Roy said "We both know that he's as stubborn as I was, so I'd recommend at least pursuing this lead, since you never know, it could come in handy." Roy said.
"Fine, Rene, I want you and Roy to check out the location, but it's only recon. Any information you get, you give to me and the ACU." Oliver said.
"Ok, but why not just take Sampson out now?" Rene asked.
"Because the DA's office has a plan to flip Sampson for the suppliers, which we can't do if he's dead." Laurel said and Oliver nodded.
"If you're going to be a part of this team, then you need to be able to see the big picture." Oliver said and Rene nodded.
"Let's suit up and head out." Roy said and Rene nodded.
"How do you get away with taking so much time off work?" Evelyn asked Roy.
"Well, it helps that I'm on Mayor Queen's Anti-Crime Unit and I'm dating his chief of staff." Roy said with a smile before he and Rene headed out.