A/N: Hello everyone! This chapter is a little short, but an important one. There's also some graphic descriptions of child abuse below so remember that and read on.

Shock coursed through Roy when he went downstairs and found Oliver in the kitchen. He blinked and his muscles tensed. 'What is he doing here?! He should be at work!' He walked closer, wondering what could be going on. "G'morning Ollie," he said quietly.

"Morning Roy," Oliver said. He put a bowl of oatmeal in front the teen, unaware of the amount of alarm it caused the boy.

"Thank you." Roy took a bite as he watched Oliver. "What're you doing home? Shouldn't you be at the office?"

"I decided to stay home today." He took a sip of his coffee and raised an eyebrow. "Do you not want me around or something?"

"N-no! Of course not! I'm just….surprised."

"I know I'm usually busy, but I thought we'd have an archery lesson today." He looked at Roy expectantly, who forced a smile.

"That's…great!" Oliver nodded and turned away. Roy looked down at his bowl, suddenly not hungry. He forced the food down his throat, with Oliver he never knew when he was going to get his next meal, heart pounding at what was next. When he'd first moved in he'd loved his archery lessons with Oliver. For all his many faults, he was the greatest archer in the world. Under his tutelage, Roy's skill and accuracy had improved faster than he'd ever thought possible. Now though, given how time spent with his guardian was a ticking time bomb to his next beating, the thought of spending all day practicing with Oliver, and then all night on the streets with him was terrifying. 'Made he'll be in a good mood today. Hopefully all day.' He ate quickly, then left to go get dressed. In his room, he had to splash some cold water on his face. 'Get it together Roy. You can do this. Just don't talk back. Don't question him. Do what he says when he says to do it and you'll be fine.' He nodded and quickly got dressed, not wanting to keep Oliver waiting. HIs stomach twisted into knots as he and his way down to the arsenal. The rules kept repeating in his head like a broken record.

'Don't talk back. Don't question him. Do what he says when he says to do it. Don't talk back. Don't question him. Do what he says when he says to do it.' He walked into the arsenal to find that Oliver was finishing re-stringing his bow. He stopped in his tracks and almost let out a frightened squeak. 'He never does that. He never re-strings it for me!' Oliver looked up and held out the red bow. "All ready for you," he said with a smile.

"Thank you," Roy said, accepting it.

"I noticed your draw getting a little slack, so I gave it more tension and a higher draw strength." He got up and clamped Roy on the arm, missing the flinch that went through the teen's body. "You're getting stronger. Pretty soon your draw strength will be equal to mine."

"Thank you, Ollie." Roy quickly grabbed his quiver and slipped it on over his body. He held his bow with a white-knuckled grip when he heard Oliver humming. 'Relax. He'll get aggravated with you so tense. He's in a good mood, just enjoy it.'

"Ready?" Oliver asked, putting his hand on Roy's shoulder, once again not noticing the flinch from him.

"Y-yeah."

"Let's go."

Roy frowned when Oliver headed for the stairs. 'Don't question him.' He took a breath and followed. They walked through the mansion to the double, glass doors in the back. He perked up when he saw Oliver unlocking them. Some of his fear was replaced with excitement when one of the doors opened. A warm breeze hit his face and the tension left his shoulders. He tried to ignore the voice in his head telling him how pathetic he was for being so excited to be outside. He knew it was a sad mark on his life that just getting some time outside during the day was an achievement. "We're going outside?"

Oliver looked back at him. "You've been good, I thought you deserved some time outside."

'Yeah I've been good,' Roy thought, running his tongue over the empty socket in his gums. He didn't ask any more questions as he followed Oliver outside. He smiled as the grass poked his bare feet. The last time he'd been outside had been months ago. Oliver had let him go outside for a few hours on his birthday. They walked across the lawn to where there were several targets set up. "What're we doing first?"

"Let's start with simple shooting, Basics."

Roy nodded. "Basics. Right." He stood next to Oliver and pulled an arrow from his quiver.

"How far away are the targets?"

"20 yards."

"Good." They pulled their bowstring back in a synchronized motion and shot. Both arrows hit the bullseye of the targets. They did this again, landing three more bullseyes in a row. Oliver turned and walked the opposite way and Roy followed. After a minute they stopped and faced the targets again. "How many yards?"

"30."

"Good." They fired again, using the arrows they'd already shot as guides. They landed four more bullseyes and Roy looked at Oliver expectantly. The older archer simply turned and walked away again. leaving Roy to follow. He didn't really expect Oliver to praise him since praise wasn't something the man did well. Nice words, in general, weren't something the teen heard often. He suddenly remembered something Kid Flash had told him about Superman. 'He says you're the greatest teen archer he's ever seen!' He stopped beside Oliver again and raising his bow. "How far?"

"40 yards." Judging distance was one of an archer's many necessary skills according to Oliver. He aimed again, keeping an eye on the cluster of arrows already on the target. He fired and hit the middle again. He fired off three more arrows and made three more bullseyes. He looked at Oliver, who nodded. The man put his hand on the teen's shoulder and Roy tensed. 'Oh god what did I do?!' He immediately scolded himself. 'He's not in a bad mood! Just relax! What the hell is wrong with you?!'

"Good job. Your aim has gotten better."

"Th-thanks." Roy did his best to keep his face schooled. He followed Oliver to the targets and they pulled the arrows free.

"Let's see if you've gotten any faster," he winked, "Speedy."

Roy's stomach twisted. He nodded and looked at the target. "How much time?"

"One minute. Go." Roy didn't think, he moved. He shot off arrows faster than his brain could keep up. His fingers had barely touched the fletchings before he had it on the bowstring, had the string drawn, and then was on to the next one. He lost himself in the familiar motion of speed shooting and some of the tension left his body. It would've been better if he had his longbow instead of the recurve, but the experience was still pretty close. "Done." Roy froze with his hand at his quiver while Oliver counted the arrows in the target. "75. That's more than one per second. You've gotten even faster."

Despite how bizarre it was that Oliver was complimenting him, Roy felt his heart swell with pride. He was still getting better. Oliver put a hand on his shoulder again and he fought to control his flinch. "That's good."

"Now that that's out of the way, let's get to the fun stuff." Roy's heart started racing. He and Oliver had very different ideas of fun. "I'm going to teach you to shoot more than one arrow at once."

Genuine curiosity took over in Roy's mind. "Really?!"

Oliver smiled at him. "It's easy." He reached back to his quiver and hooked two arrows. He pulled them out and showed Roy how he held them between his knuckles. "Just like this."

Roy removed two arrows from his quiver. He did his best to hold them between his knuckles like Oliver did. "Like this?"

"Close." Oliver reached out and gently adjusted Roy's grip. The teen felt uneasy at how gently Oliver touched him. "Like that." Roy examine the grip, noticing things like where each arrow was, the curve of his hand, how much strength was needed to hold them all, etc. "Try shooting." Roy nodded and nocked the arrows to his bowstring. "Good. Now use the weight of the arrows to draw it back." Roy did just that, tightening his grip to keep them straight as he drew. "Now shoot." Roy released the arrows. One of them hit the target and the other hit just below it.

"Oh man."

"Well….one of them was good. Try aiming the bottom arrow a little higher. You have to adjust when you're shooting more than one."

"Right." Roy reached back and took a minute to get a grip on the two arrows he needed. He pulled them out and nocked them. Once his bowstring was pulled back he carefully adjusted his aim and shot. He smiled with pride when he saw that one of them hit the second ring and one of them landed only one ring below.

"Better. Keep shooting. You'll get it." Roy spent the next few hours practicing his double-shooting. He enjoyed the sunshine warming his skin and the breeze that blew against his face. It was way better than being inside, even if he had to deal with constant tension from being with Oliver. He lost himself in the rhythmic motions of shooting for hours. He did notice it was slightly harder to draw, but he soon adjusted. Regardless of how he acted when upset, Roy knew Oliver was making him a far better archer.

By the time Oliver told him it was time for lunch he'd managed to get the second arrow to the edge of the bullseye.

"Are we having another lesson this afternoon?" he asked as he ate his peanut butter sandwich.

"No, I don't want to tire to you out before patrol. We can do whatever you want though."

Roy swallowed his bite, unable to believe it. 'Ollie really just wants to spend time with me? Just…hanging out and doing whatever?' He smiled broadly. "Do you want to play a video game?"

"Sure. Let's do it." So Roy and Oliver spent the afternoon playing a video game in the den. Roy was pretty sure he was going to burst from how happy he was, but he couldn't avoid it. Oliver played why him sometimes, sometimes being the keyword, but he never did it for several hours. This was the most interest he'd shown in Roy in a few months. Roy felt relaxed and ecstatic that he'd earned his guardians attention in a positive way for once. Oliver had stopped being overly nice after Roy's first two weeks with him, making days like this the minority. When they did happen though, they reminded Roy of what he'd liked about Oliver. How easy going and kind he was. So he sat back and enjoyed himself since good days like these felt like they were hard to come by. All too soon it was time for dinner and then patrol. Despite his misgivings, Roy was in a relatively good mood when they left. Oliver let him take a neighborhood alone again, so he kept an eye out for Robin. The little bird didn't show up though. Part of Speedy was really disappointed he didn't see his young friend, but another part of him was glad. He didn't want to talk about Green Arrow with Robin. Not after the great day he'd had.

His neighborhood was quiet, up until the end of the night. From the fire escape he'd been scaling down, he spotted a guy who was attempting to mug a woman. Speedy shot a warning arrow while standing on the edge of a railing. The arrow cut through the strap of the lady's purse. The criminal let it go in surprise and the lady grabbed her purse and took off running. Speedy got down to the ground and shot the guy in the leg so he couldn't run. "Don't try running," he warned him as the man started to push himself up; using the wall as leverage. Unfortunately, he wasn't listening to the vigilante and tried to put pressure on his leg, which of course tried to give out.

"Ah!" the guy leaned against the wall. "P-please, I'm sorry man!"

"Sorry doesn't mean anything."

"I won't do it again! I swear! Just please don't off me!"

"Should've thought about that before you resorted to a life of crime!" Green Arrow snapped, scaring the other two people in the alley. He fired an arrow that snagged the guy's shirt, pinning him to the wall. He looked at Speedy. "Go ahead."

Speedy's heart stopped. "W-what?"

"Go ahead. Kill him."

Speedy swallowed. He aimed his arrow for the man's neck. He tried not to look at the man's scared eyes, but he couldn't help it. The pleading look made his stomach shriveled. "I have to kill him?"

"You caught him, you kill him." Speedy's hand started shaking. Was why Green Arrow and been so nice to him earlier? Had he been trying to make Speedy drop his guard? "Shoot, Speedy." The man's eyes were still wide with fear.

'Criminals don't deserve mercy. Criminals don't deserve mercy.' It didn't matter how many times he repeated it. They didn't sound true. Dread gripped Speedy's heart as he relaxed his bow. "No." There was a moment of tense silence.

"What did you just say?"

"No." He put the arrow back in his quiver and shook his head. "I can't." Green Arrow didn't say anything. He simply shot the mugger in the neck. Speedy flinched as blood dropped near his foot. He looked over just as Green Arrow punched him. He stumbled back in shock, but not really in surprise. Before he could say anything though, Green Arrow's hand moved to his quiver. Pain shot through his body and he fell back on the ground. He gritted his teeth and managed to force his eyes open. He saw the green arrow sticking out of his thigh and let out a strangled cry. Green Arrow reached down and grabbed Speedy by the shoulder of his shirt. Speedy kept a white-knuckled grip on his bow as his mentor dragged him away. Panic gripped his mind. 'He's going to kill me! He's going to kill me! He's going to kill me!'

— —

Once they got back, Green Arrow all but threw Speedy into a chair. "Stay," he growled. Speedy didn't move as his mentor grabbed the first aid kit and pliers. He knelt down and examined the wound. He then took the pliers and broke off the arrowhead with a grunt. He pulled the arrow out in a single jerk, ignoring the cry of pain it got from Roy. He kept pressure on the entrance and exit wounds. "Mask, quiver, off." Not needing to be told twice, Roy quickly complied and took off the items. He set them aside as best he could. Oliver's mask was off and Roy could see the fury in his eyes. It made him want to crawl away and hide under his bed. After what felt like forever Oliver wrapped his leg with a bandage.

"Thank- ah!"

"Shut up!" Oliver snapped, slapping him. "Upstairs!" He grabbed Roy by his hair and forcibly dragged him up the stairs. Roy tired to walk, but his injured leg was throbbing and not up to handling his weight.

"Ah! Ollie stop, please!" He was relieved when they reached Oliver's office, but then his guardian threw him onto the ground. He let out of cry of pain when Oliver kicked him.

"I told you not to question me!" Oliver kicked him again. "I told you to listen!" He grabbed Roy by his hair and jerked him to his feet. His hands were suddenly on the teenager's throat and he forced him against the fireplace mantle. Roy clawed at his arms in desperation, terrified Oliver would actually kill him. This only made Oliver shake him until he stopped. Luckily, he released Roy before the teen lost consciousness, but then Roy was punched as soon as the hands were gone from his neck. He fell back and crawled away. While his back was turned Oliver grabbed a poker from beside the fireplace. Pain flared across Roy's back and he collapsed. Something metal hit him again and he curled up into a protective ball.

"Ah! Ah! Ah! Ollie! Please! Stop! Please!" It hit his head and pain exploded across his skull. Stars danced in front of his eyes and he screamed. HIs breathing was ragged when it finally stopped. He rolled onto his sore back in exhaustion. Oliver suddenly stomped on his chest. "No! Ollie, please stop!" He couldn't do anything but lay there as he felt at least two of his ribs crack. Oliver finally stopped and he held his breath. HIs guardian grabbed his arm and pulled him up, then twisted the arm behind Roy's back. "Ollie please…" he whimpered. Oliver didn't say anything as he pulled Roy's arm further up his back. "Ah!" Roy fell on his knees when he felt his arm pop out of its socket. He stayed kneeling on the ground, whimpering and hiding the injured arm close to his body. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm-"

"Shut up!" Oliver snapped, kicking him in the stomach. "I told you to listen."

"I will! I'll be good I swear!" He heard movement and opened his eyes a crack. He saw Oliver starting a fire and crawled away. "Stay." He stopped moving. Oliver left the room and Roy watch him go apprehensively. Pain was echoing all over his body. He focused on his labored breathing instead of the pain. Oliver came back and Roy felt the blood drain from his face. Oliver was carrying Roy's wooden longbow. The one he'd brought with him from the reservation. The one Brave Bow had made him.

"Ollie-"

"I think I've been too soft on you."

"Ollie-"

"When I took you on, I expected you to adopt my way of doing things. Up until now, I've indulged your reluctance to take care of criminals."

"Please-"

"No more." He looked at Roy and the teen flinched back from his anger. "You want to be a vigilante, then you can't cling to your childish way of thinking anymore. Time to grow up Roy." He threw the bow into the fire and Roy dove forward.

"No! No Ollie, please! Please don't!" Oliver grabbed his shirt and held him back, but Roy kept struggling. His eyes filled with tears as he watched the flames lick at the bow. "No! Please!" Oliver's grip didn't lessen. "Please, I'll do anything! Anything, please!" Only once the surface of the bow had started to turn black did Oliver release him. Without thinking, Roy dove forward and snatched it out. The fire burned his hand, but he didn't care. He stared at the now slightly charred bow in front of him. Despair overtook him and he collapsed on the ground. Oliver made a noise of disgust and grabbed his non-dislocated arm. Roy just barely had enough coherency to grab his bow as he was dragged out.

Oliver dragged him down the hall while the still warm bow burned Roy's hand. HIs guardian opened a closet door and shoved Roy inside. The teen collapsed onto his knees as the door was shut behind him. He heard it lock and started sobbing. He felt his way into a corner and sat so his dislocated shoulder wasn't touching anything. Despite the heat, he held the bow against his body carefully. It felt like the structural integrity was still capable of holding it together. It was badly damaged though and deep down he knew he'd never be able to shoot it again.

Roy buried his face in his knees and cried. He kept his longbow, his most prized possession, close to his body. He sobbed long into the night, in the dark and pain, until his tears ran dry and his throat was closed. When that happened, he wiped his eyes and leaned his head against the wall. 'I'm sorry…' was his last thought before his eyes drifted shut and he fell asleep clutching the charred bow.