(If you haven't read "Darkened Warriors, Lost Spirits", you may want to. I am using Running Coyote again in this story) Picking up where "Family is Who You'll Kill For" left off and incorporating Roy leaving Starling we find the Boys trying to start over again. Since Roy is looking for a new sense of purpose he convinces the Boys to take him under their wing. Unfortunately the first job they pick is, as usual, not an easy one and they have to call in an expert. Coyote.

I managed to make it four weeks before I got restless and started combing the papers and the webs for jobs. Sam and I cleaned Oliver's house to the point where I'd even started to get OCD about dust. The first week Team Arrow +1 had left us pretty much alone, which worked for us. We fished, watched TV and movies in that crazy ass media room, made as many huge meals as we could. About day five Sam had started to clean, which I couldn't really blame him for since Oliver hasn't been charging us. I tried to weasel out of it, more to irritate Sam then out of a real sense of laziness but Sam rather forcefully shoved a roll of paper towels and wood cleaner into my hands on the night of day five and told me "Start cleaning." Maybe it was the fact that he was standing less than two feet away from the pile of beer bottles that he'd had gathered together while cleaning the entire living room that made me decide to help. Sam wouldn't actually hit me with a bottle but why risk it, so I rolled up my sleeves and started polishing the wood furniture that hehadn't gotten to yet.

Week two Oliver and Dig dropped by a few times and Felicity visited for dinner four nights that week but it was Roy we saw the most of, which was kind of odd. At first Roy just seemed to want the company, not really asking questions. He talked about sports, random current events you know, small talk.

It was the beginning of week three that he started being a bit more bold. "Um, would you guys be okay answering some questions?" He asked in the early evening about midway through week three.

"Kind of surprised you waited this long," I answered. "Usually most people who've seen what you did and still want to talk to us usually ask questions. The ones that don't want to talk are usually running as fast as they can to the next state. What's on your mind?"

Roy tugged a bit nervously at his black t-shirt and looked down, "Oliver hinted and so did Sam that you guys have been doing, well, this, for a long time. What got you into all this? I'm guessing it's nothing good so if you don't want to get into it that's fine."

I looked at Sam who shrugged but gave me a quick nod. "My turn huh?"

"Might be good for you," Sam replied.

"Not sure why but all right. It's not like we don't have time to kill. Get comfy kid, it's a long story."

Roy leaned back on the couch, kicked his shoes off, pulled his legs up and focused entirely on me.

There was no hesitation in Roy's gaze or bearing, he wasn't asking idly as a way to pass the time. There was something driving the question, "You really want all the details?"

"Yeah, well whatever you want to say anyway."

"All right then," I figured that the hard, straight back chair I'd been sitting in wasn't going to work for a conversation that was liable to last for several hours and relocated to the dark brown, microsuede recliner across from Roy. Sam stayed seated on the end of the love seat that was perpendicular to the couch Roy was on. I settled in and started talking. "I know you've seen a little of the weird, freaky side of things but trust me, that was nothing to what started all of this so try to keep an open mind and hold your questions till the end."

"Sure," Roy replied.

"Right, so I was about four when all of this happened," I started going through all the crap kind of surprised at how different it felt now. Usually when I think about all of this that good ol' guilt and gut wrenching fear I felt that night would feel so real, like I was living it again. This time, not so much. Did all the crap with the Mark finally get me past all that? If so, talk about irony. The thing that was using all that shit to destroy me may have ended up fixing me. Never saw that coming. I worked my way through us being kids, the training and then skipped to Dad disappearing and going to get Sam from college. By that point Roy was about bursting at the seams with skepticism and questions. "Start with the questions. I'm parched from talking, Sam can take over for a bit while I hydrate."

Roy didn't say anything at first, he was too busy looking completely lost and confused. "So, your Dad based off a random hunch that something supernatural was involved in your Mom's death turned your childhood into some sort of twisted super soldier training?"

"How many women have you ever seen get pinned to a ceiling and burned alive?" Sam shot back. "Same thing happened to my girlfriend in college."

Roy's head instantly turned and he looked kind of horrified, "What?"

"Yeah, we hadn't gotten there quite yet," Sam continued, "We'll get there in a minute. What our Dad saw was only the beginning, he didn't start training us to be hunters right away. Hell I was only six months old after all. He researched, found other hunters, found out about the darkness that lurks in the shadows, that's when he decided to train us. It wasn't just about revenge for our Mom, although that was the thing that drove him for the rest of his life. He was worried about us, he knew he'd hunt for our Mom's killer but he also knew that doing so would put us in the line of fire. Ultimately he did what he did to protect us."

I never, ever thought I'd hear him say that. Guess I'm not the only one who's looking at things differently. I chose not to comment on what Sam had said, saving that for later, "Roy, did you know Oliver before he was shipwrecked?"

"No, well, I saw his name in the papers but," he chuckled, "Let's just say we didn't exactly have the same circle of friends."

"How did you two hook up?" I've been curious about that. Roy looks like a model but he moves like a fighter. Probably a street kid, he sort of reminds me of me. Or at least how I would have been with less drama in my life at that age.

"He saved my life, literally," Roy replied. "I grew up in The Glades, screwed up Dad, had to protect Mom, did what I could to help her out, help the family out." His eyes shifted off of Sam's face and stared out the sliding glass door. "Got involved with the wrong people. Actually stole a purse from Thea, that's how we met."

"Not the best way to pick up chicks there Roy."

Roy gave me a pretty flat stare, "Yeah I kind of know that, thanks Dean. Anyway, Thea tracked me down, pounded on my door late one night and demanded I give her her purse back." He seemed pretty proud of Thea when he said that. She definitely takes after her brother.

Sam sort of smirked before he joined in, "I can see that, she's not the type to take something like that laying down."

"No, she isn't. I gave her her purse, more out of respect for her venturing to the crappy side of town I guess then anything else. Then she left, I trailed her, saved her from some thugs and we sort of hooked up. She got me a job at the club."

"Aww, how Disney of you."

Roy pointed at me and looked at Sam, "And why exactly did you want to save him?"

Sam shrugged, "He grows on you, either that or I'm secretly an emotional masochist. Some day I may figure that out."

Smart asses, "Hey, right here, just sayin'"

"Oh, sorry Dean," Sam continued, "Didn't see you there."

Roy snorted and gave me a pretty cocky look, kid's got attitude that's for sure.

"Sorry. Anyway, back when Oliver was first starting to fight crime I ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time, got kidnapped by some insane bastard and Oliver took the guy out just as he was about to end me. I'll admit to a slight case of hero worship at first, I started trying to find out who The Hood was, tried to emulate him. Took on thugs..." he seemed slightly embarrassed by that, "Pretty much sucked at it. Drove Oliver nuts until Dig I think, talked him into seeing me as an ally instead of an irritation. I started out just passing information to him, then he started training me." Those words seem to age him, make him more mature and I realized that I'd been seriously underestimating him. It was definitely time to rethink this one, he may not have hunted monsters or been through what Oliver has but he's seen his fair share of hell. I was too screwed up when he helped with the ritual to get that good of a read on him and haven't paid too close attention to things since we've been on this vacation. I still didn't quite get why he was asking about us though.

"He got me the suit a few months ago, dubbed me Arsenal, then started taking me out with him on missions."

Pretty sure there's a lot more to that story. "So you've seen a lot of evil crap humans can do and when Oliver saved you it gave you some sort of purpose. Right?"

"Yeah, after that, I guess I wanted to do something different. He knew Thea and I were dating, he saved me because of her originally but he told me that I could live a better life somehow. Stop being a petty thief and working for gangs."

"That's basically what our Dad did,"

"Except that he taught us how to be good thieves," Sam interjected, "Hunting doesn't come with a salary or health benefits."

"True, I'll rephrase and cut to the chase of what Dad taught us, hunt things, save people. That's the family business." It felt good to say that again and actually mean it. All this crap over the last few years, I think we've both lost sight of that. "Trying to find our Mom's killer was his thing, he tried to keep us out of that hunt for as long as he could. He'd been in the Marines and he still had that sense of saving people that couldn't save themselves. So no, our Dad's obsession to find out Mom's killer didn't make him train us, it was that he knew too much, saw too much suffering the farther into the hunting life he got and wanted us to make a difference. Just like you, Oliver, Dig and Felicity try to do. You take down criminals, we take down monsters but we do it for the same reasons."

Roy processed that, it took him a few minutes but he didn't seem too phased by what we'd told him.

He finally nodded and spoke up, "Makes sense. I guess that's the only question so far."

"Sam, you talk. I'll get some beers."

"Sure."

Sam picked up where I left off and I went to get some more beers. I remember thinking that Samwas right, that the talk would be good for both of us. Roy, maybe not so much.