"Well let's tell him." I stuck his head out into the hall, "Roy, you're coming."

Roy's head peeked out of the media room door, he looked like he wasn't sure if he should be happy or terrified about coming with us, "Really Dean? You're okay with this."

"As long as Thea doesn't try to kill us in our sleep, sure."

Roy finished walking into the hallway and grinned, "Actually I've already talked to her, believe it or not she's fine with it."

"What? How did that work?"

"Before going off with Merlyn she was having a hard time dealing with Oliver coming back from the dead yet being so distant," He returned to the kitchen and he hopped up on the counter next to the sink. "The whole secret identity thing. Anyway she got pretty heavy into drinking and drugs, Tommy, Oliver's best friend from way before the island, intervened I guess but he got killed in the earthquake. She took the club over after Tommy died, he'd been managing it, that gave her something to focus on but she was still pretty screwed up. Merlyn, asshole and killer that he was, managed to give her a whole new life for a few months, trained her, made her stronger. She told me that even though he ended up betraying her in the end that she wouldn't trade away those months, they saved her life. She knows I've been having issues with things and thinks maybe some time away would help put things in perspective."

"Huh," Sam grunted, "Well good to know we won't have to worry about her coming after us, Dean was pretty sure she'd make an idiot out of him by kicking his ass."

Roy eyed me like he was sizing me up before a fight, "I'd put my money on the 130 lbs woman, she's crazy fast and you sort of look like you're past your prime."

"Age jokes, really? Sam, this is why I don't let you make new friends. Somehow I always end up outnumbered."

"Consider it karma for being an obnoxious older brother when we were kids."

He would bring all that back up, bitch. "That was my job! All older brothers tease the crap out of their kid brothers when they're young."

Roy nodded, "Sorry Sam, have to back him on that one. I have a younger brother and I was kind of jerk to him too."

"Then watch and learn," Sam warned, "Kid brothers have learned patience and long range planning skills. We always get our revenge in the end."

"Well, if nothing else this trip will be a lot more entertaining then hanging around Oliver," Roy pointed out, "He has no idea how to relax."

I couldn't argue with that, I'm damn funny after all. "I've noticed. Well now that that's been settled, you go tell Thea bye and we'll meet you at the club in three hours. You telling Oliver too?"

"I guess I should," Roy answered as he slid off the counter top, "That's going to be a slightly uncomfortable conversation."

"Tell him why," Sam suggested, "Not as bluntly as you told us but I think he may be a lot more open to hearing what you have to say than you think. It's quiet and he has a little bit of breathing room. He won't judge you, I know that. He may scowl at you but that's probably the worst it'll be."

"Thanks guys, really."

"Sure. Oh if you don't have a grey or blue suit, get one," I mentioned.

"A suit?"

"Yeah, for when you're pretending to be an FBI agent."

"You do that?" Roy looked a bit shocked at that.

"Yup, and here you thought running around in red leather was the most uncomfortable thing you'd ever do. When it comes to that just follow our lead. It works, you just need to have the right attitude when you talk to people. Unlike you and Oliver, we hide in plain sight, no masks. Keeps you on your toes."

"Right, I'll get one and meet you at the club." He turned and left.

"He's game, I'll give him that.

"Yeah," Sam agreed, "I'm starting to think if Oliver doesn't realize just what Roy is really made of he may lose him."

"You may be right. Let's pack and get ready to clear out." I hated to admit it but I was going to miss this place. I got what Sam meant when we were driving up here, being away from everything, everyone. Gives you time to clear your head. Hope Oliver keeps it.

Packing didn't take us all that long so we spent the last hour and a half or so chilling on the deck, not really talking just taking in as much of a sense of peace as we could before we were neck deep in vampires, ghosts and who knows what else again. I finally looked away from the lake and tapped Sam on the arm, "Let's do this."

"Yeah."

We put the bags of trash from the last few days in the backseat, shoved our bags in the trunk, took one last look at the house, got into Baby and followed the driveway back to the road. I turned on the radio as they hit the road and had to smile when "Fly By Night" by Rush came on. I thought it fit pretty damn well actually, seeing as how we were trying to start over. "We'll drop the trash off at that convenience store's dumpsters and head to the club. Text Oliver that we're on the way in case Roy didn't give him our time frame."

"Sure," Sam answered then started texting.

"I was looking for a job the last few days, found one in Colorado that may be interesting and it's on the way home." Plus it'd given me an excuse to not clean.

"Really? What'd you find?"

"Random odd "hiker deaths" that they keep attributing to animal attacks but something's off with the autopsies. They read almost the exact same for each person."

Sam got that look when he's already three steps ahead, "Someone trying to hide something?"

"Sort of feels like that."

"How many?"

"Five over the last few weeks. Park rangers say they're out looking for a rogue mountain lion but it must be a pretty small cat because from the pics I saw the bites are nowhere big enough."

"Vamps?" He asked.

"Could be," I pushed the gas pedal down to accelerate out of a tight curve. I'd really missed driving her. "Might be a good one to start Roy on. Vamps are relatively easy."

"Sounds good."

I was drumming the beat out on the steering wheel and decided to roll down the window to feel the air racing by as we drove. Sam shot me one of the best smiles I'd seen in a while, rolled his window down and started rocking out a bit too. Between the music and the road I guess a little bit of hope started to sneak into my brain. Damn, I think our luck may finally be changing. First time in years it actually feels good to be on the road, doing what we're supposed to instead of all this other crap. I've missed hunting, actually fucking hunting.

Thirty minutes later we'd made it to the club and everyone's car was there. "Gang's all here I guess,"

"It may be a longer goodbye then you wanted," Sam mentioned.

"It's all good."

"Drive felt good huh?"

"Yeah," I replied as he keyed in the code and opened the door. "It really did."

We walked down the stairs and saw that all of Team Arrow +1 and Thea were waiting for us

"Hi." Felicity said and tried as best she could to crush us with hugs. Another time, another place, I'd go for her. Although she's probably a better fit for Sam. She was dressed for work, a sleek, fitted blue dress, heels and her hair was up. "So how about you drop by sometime when things aren't bleak and desperate?"

I hugged her back, "We'll try."

She tried to get all stern which only makes her cuter, "No, you will. I'm not letting years go by before we see you two again. Got it?"

Sam nodded, "Got it, we'll swing back through in a couple of months, or maybe you guys can come to Lebanon. We know where you're super secret hide out is, you may as well know ours."

Roy was standing next to Oliver, they were both dressed in jeans and t-shirts, Dig was behind them in slacks and a button down black shirt.

"Sort of feel like most of Starling knows about this place these days." Dig said, "I'm always up for a trip to somewhere new."

Felicity backed away and I walked to Oliver first and went to shake his hand, "Thanks for not charging us rent. Sam went OCD on cleaning the place so it looks pretty good."

Oliver pulled me in for a quick hug, "Sure thing, I'd been looking for a cleaning crew so if you two want to drop back by in a few months and dust it I'd appreciate it."

"We'll pencil that in," Sam deadpanned.

I tried to pull back from Oliver, but be tightened his arm around my back and spoke directly into my ear, "Let's talk."

"Sure."

Roy's slightly awkward look gave me a hint as to what this conversation was going to be about. Once we were out of earshot of everyone Oliver faced me, his face and eyes looking somewhere between Oliver and Arrow on a bad day.

"Hey, we'll keep him safe. Trust me."

"That's not what I'm worried about, he can take care of himself."

"All right, what is?"

"Thea's not as fine with it as she told Roy. She's not lying, she supports him, but he already chose one rough life over her teaming up with me. I know I'm not the best at teaching, or guiding, or whatever he's looking for heading off with you two but I'm just worried about her."

I looked at Roy and Thea. They were chatting with Sam, holding hands and Thea was lightly leaning on Roy's shoulder. "My opinion, he should stay here and marry her. She's tough and is willing to forgive an immense amount of crap from both of you, but he's not going to back down from what you instilled in him. He's a good guy from a screwed up past, you gave him direction. He just wants to be better at it. I told him we're more jacked up than you are but he's game."

"Why didn't you tell him no? He would have listened."

"Sam pointed something out to me and Roy pointed it out too. We have to ease back into hunting and Sam and I agreed to try to do things different, Roy will make us do that. We'll have to take it slow to keep him safe."

Oliver's eyes went from mildly threatening to angry, "So you're being selfish?"

"No more than you were when you cut all of them out of your choice to go play martyr." He didn't like hearing that but it made him calm down, "That's what seems to be bothering Roy the most. You keep them in the dark, don't listen and run off to save the world all by yourself. And yeah, I know exactly how that sounds coming from me. Roy thinks you don't respect him, deep down I think that's what driving all of this. He thinks he's not good enough, that you won't take the time to train him and he had no clue how to get through to you. I guess since you and I are so much alike he figures he can learn all that from watching Sam and I work together."

That seemed to surprise him, "I don't respect him? That's what he thinks."

"He didn't exactly come out and say it but yeah. Look we'll keep him for a few weeks then send him back. You get this group functioning again then when he comes back you'll have time to focus on him. I will tell you one thing though."

"What's that?"

"From what it sounds like, you severely underestimate him. Not sure if you're doing it because you're trying to protect him or because you just haven't noticed what he's capable of. Think about it. Keep it up you may be back down to three team members, not four." I started to walk back to the group when he stopped me again.

"Here," He handed me a key, "When you guys need the house again, it'll be there. Everything else aside, I agree with Felicity. Stay safe and drop back by when you can."

"You sure about this? We may bring strippers next time and say the place is ours."

He laughed, "We can make it a guys night then."

"Hmm, Felicity can hack into anything, Dig's married to a high level government operative and Thea was trained by an assassin. Are you sure that's a good idea?" He obviously hadn't thought that all the way through and the smile on his face disappeared. He looked away from me and back at Felicity and Thea, I could see him running all those scenarios through his head.

"On further consideration, you two enjoy the strippers and the rest of us will stay as far away as possible."

"Good choice. Thanks for the key." I hadn't expected that at all. Was good to know we didn't push our luck staying so long.

I made my way back to the group, said my goodbyes then me, Sam and Roy headed out to the parking lot. Roy walked to the red and black Mustang and unlocked the door. "Where are we headed?"

"Carbondale, Colorado. Hope you have a lot of tunes, we drive about eight hours straight a day when it's not an emergency."

Roy nodded, "And when it is?"

"We don't stop till we get there." I slid into Baby's driver's seat and flipped through the tapes until I found ELO. I knew what had to been playing right then, "Long Black Road" time I think Sammy."

"I'm down."

"Let's see what Roy's made of." I backed away from the club, spun her tires and hit the road.