Warnings- major character death.
T for violence, mild language, gay relationship, and death
Canon? Hell nah.
l--{(@)}--l
""Can I lay by your side, next to you, and make sure you're alright? I'll take care of you. And I don't want to be here if I can't be with you.""
Everything moved in slow motion.
It was like all the times he had been hungover.
Whether or not he woke up in his bed or someone else's, Oliver hated being hungover. Did he do anything about it? No, he continued to get wasted night after night.
He hated the pounding headaches. How lights were too bright and sounds too loud. Everything around him seemed to move slowly and it was almost a sensory overload.
His cure was shutting himself in his room with the curtains drawn and to sleep it off until he felt better. Hoping no one came looking for him, that his phone didn't ring, and that Tommy wouldn't tease him about it later.
Except here he couldn't shut himself away, couldn't sleep it off, he wasn't even hungover though he'd take that over this hell anyday.
But still his head pounded. The pain throbbing along with the rapid beating of his heart as he grieved, as he tried desperately to think of a way out of this mess.
The sun had long since set but lights were being relentlessly shone in his eyes, making it that much harder to think.
Things moved slowly.
"Choose!"
Ivo's command being the only thing piercing his clouded thoughts. His shouting causing Oliver's head to hurt that much more.
He didn't want to. Oliver didn't want to choose between Sara or Shado. He already lost Slase only moment ago. And damn did his heart still ache.
It hurt him so much. How could Slade, a seemingly invincible man, die? Just like that? That easily? The only way he could picture the man dying was in a brutal battle. And even then it didn't feel real.
But Slade was gone.
Slade was the whole reason Oliver had survived in the first place. Without him he would have been dead a long time ago.
Though he didn't just rely on him physically. He had relied on Shado and Yao Fei in that aspect as well. But he also had come to rely on Slade emotionally.
Oliver had a habit of over reacting. Slade had gotten good at snapping Oliver out of that. Whenever Oliver panicked Slade was also good at calming him down. Sometimes he was harsh. Sometimes he was unexpectedly soft with Oliver.
There had been days where all Oliver would do was whine about Slade's methods of teaching him. Slade would generally hit him with whatever weapon he was teaching Oliver to use that day. Sometimes during training Oliver would get it in his head that he really wasn't any good. Those were the pep talk days. In which Slade called him out on his crap and reminded him of all the things he had managed to accomplish since his arrival on the island.
There had been nights that stayed between them. The island had brought horrors to the both of them. Those horrors tended to haunt Oliver almost every night. Slade had at first been annoyed by being woken up in the middle if the night frequently. That is until Oliver told him how he ended up there and what he went through. Slade may be a tough ASIS agent but he wasn't heartless. Slade somehow had this way of calming Oliver in the middle of the night. They'd either stay up together or lay in either of their cots together until one or both of them fell asleep. Oliver wasn't sure how Slade was able to get his fears to leave him but he did it and he didn't care.
But now all of that was gone. Taken from him just like that.
As Ivo gets close to the end of his countdown, deciding Oliver is taking far too long in choosing between the women, Oliver makes his choice. He's not about to loose someone else tonight.
"No! Stop!" Oliver shouts, desperately throwing himself toward Ivo.
The next sound he hears is the shot of a gun. One of them is dead.
l--{(@)}--l
When Slade wakes up he feels like he's been dead. That's because he had been. Luckily for him, the Mirakuru had done its job. He was alive. Cured of his wounds.
When he comes to he feels almost invincible. Like he's stronger than he's ever been before.
Then he notices that Shado, Sara, and Oliver are no where to be found. It's terrifyingly quiet. Somethings happened. He's struck with a terrible fear.
He's still a little whoozy but if they're in trouble he needs to save them.
If they weren't in danger he was going to kick their asses for leaving his body behind. Though he was pretty sure that they were actually in danger.
He rushed out of the sub, not bothering to look for a weapon. Confident that he could fight Ivo and his men with his bare hands. Assuming Ivo had taken them which was pretty much the only explanation at the moment.
The second the cold night air envelopes him it's like a high. A rush of senses all at once. It's almost like being an animal. Hearing, feeling, sight, sent, all like they've never been before. His senses are heightened. From here he can hear the shouting. Olivers voice unmistakable through the howling winds. He needs to hurry.
Running through the forest feels like a sixth sense. He's been on this god forsaken island for almost three years and never before had he known every tree's placement like this. He wasn't sure if it was the Mirakuru or his determination to save those he cares about.
He's getting closer, he can feel it. He can now hear Ivo shouting at the trio. He can't make it out but they're definitely in danger.
A fury deep inside him he didn't even know was there was let loose like a beast when he set eyes on Ivo's mercenaries, stationed behind their leader who has a gun pointed Oliver and the girls.
Just as Slade snaps the first guy's neck he hears a lone gunshot. He almost freezes, terrified of which one has just been murdered. He hopes that Ivo has missed and they're all okay as he picks up the gun from the merch he's just killed, shooting down the remaining few before they can shoot him.
He's not sure how but Ivo has escaped while Slade is distracted with his men.
Slade so badly wanted to end him right then and there. Oh the things he could do to that man now that he had the Mirakuru in his system. Granted he could do them anyway with his training from ASIS but the Mirakuru would make the justice that much more sweet. He gazes off in the direction he's assuming they went in as he pictures all the ways he could make Ivo hurt.
He's brought out of his rage filled thoughts when he hears Sara scream, "Ollie!" In a panick stricken tone. His heart skips several beats, if it hasn't stopped all together. He's almost terrified to analyze the scene. Afraid of what he'll see.
"Slade..." He hears Shado's quiet voice say. He waits momentarily for the kid to say something snarky, to let him know he's fine.
But Oliver's voice doesn't pierce the silence of the night.
Slade slowly lets out the breath he's been holding in as he turns his head to the side.
Sara and Shado on their knees with their hands behind their backs and there on the cold ground in front of them is the very thing he feared.
Oliver lies almost completely still on his side, hands bound behind his back like the girls. The slight rising and falling of his chest being the only indicator of life in his body. There's a shocked and scared expression on his face as he watches the blood ooze from the gaping wound in his chest, trying so hard just to stay alive that he can't manage a word.
Slade suddenly can't breathe as he rushes to Oliver's side. Carefully he lifts the blonde's head and lays him in his lap. He's so tensed up and stiff as if he's trying to literally hold himself together, only going slack for a moment to let out a breath and practically wheeze out the Australian's name before tensing again, eyes squeezing shut and sharply inhaling as a rush of pain hits him.
Slade tried to put as much pressure as he could on the wound with one hand and cradles Oliver's head with the other. Oliver's shirt was already soaked in blood in a large circle around the open wound in his chest. "Hold on kid," Slade says, ignoring how his hands were already covered in the younger man's blood. Even in the darkness of the evening he could see how pale Oliver was becoming. He didn't think the bullet went all the way through but it definitely did enough damage.
"The Mirakuru worked, you just need to hold on, we can-" he's unexpectedly cut off by Oliver who's relaxed a little more and Slade's heart skips a few more beats.
"No." He says quietly, shaking his head slightly, "No Slade it's too late." His voice cracks and Slade feels like he himself has been shot.
Slade shakes his head and wipes away the tear that begins to roll down Oliver's cheek. "No." It's his turn to say this, "you've made it this far. You are gonna make it off this damn island kid. You're going to get out of here alive and you are gonna go home. You hear me?" Even if he has to die himself, he's going to make sure the man dying in his arms gets what he deserves. And it sure as hell isn't this. "I didn't keep you alive for nothing Oliver."
Oliver just smiles sadly. "That sounds good but... I don't think there's much of a chance for that." His smile goes away at the thought of him never being able to go home. Never reaching his goal and getting to tell everyone he loves that he's still alive. Now he's really going to die.
Another wave of pain hits him and it's much stronger than the last. He cries out and Slade pulls him close, as if his presence alone was enough to make Oliver's pain go away.
"You can still make it Slade. You and Shado and Sara. Do what I can't anymore." Something akin to a sob leaves him as he buries his face into Slade's chest.
Slade feels so helpless, a rare feeling for him. He wants to get the Mirakuru and do what Oliver did for him but there's no guarantee it'd work. No sure outcome that Oliver could make it. And if he didn't Slade would never forgive himself. Though he's not sure if he'll be able to forgive himself for this.
If he had just been quicker maybe Oliver wouldn't be dying. If he had gone for Ivo first maybe Oliver would be dying. There were too many maybes.
Oliver shuddered in his arms and Slade knew his last breaths were looming. There had to be some way. He couldn't just die. Not like this. Not so soon. He was too young. He still had too much left to experience. They had been through too much together.
"Come on kid don't do this to me." Slade whispers. If he could hold onto Oliver any tighter he would. "I love you too much for you to die on me like this." Tears of his own fall from his eyes and he can't do anything to stop them. Slade had hardly ever cried in his adult life and nothing had ever hurt him like this.
"I love you too." Oliver's quiet voice says, muffled by Slade's chest. Then Oliver goes still and his whole body slacks.
"No." Is all Slade can say. His heart feels like it has shattered and he wishes he were dead as well. He barely hears Sara and Shado's cries of grief as he has forgotten they were even there and has tuned them out.
Slade holds Oliver's tragically lifeless body tightly against his own and places a soft kiss against the younger man's head, letting tears fall freely as the loss overtakes his emotions.
Right there, holding Oliver close, he vows to himself that he will find Ivo and he will make him pay. He will make him hurt in every way possible and then some.
He will get vengeance for Oliver's death.
A/N: okay so this is kinda an idea I've been toying with for months now. I hadn't written it yet for many, many reasons. One being because I didn't know where I'd go with it. Another being because Shado and Sara being there still tied up was kinda awkward but I worked through that I think. And last being that it's so so hard for me to kill off a character that means so much to be.
But I've done it once before in a Roleplay with a friend so...
Though there is a version of this where Oliver does somehow end up with the Mirakuru in his system.
Let me know what you guys think!
Should I turn this into a two-shot and explore Slade's grief? Should I turn it into a story and focus on Slade becoming Star City's vigilante?
If I turn it into a story I want y'all to know that wouldn't be for a while. I've got something else in the works and if you wanna know about that check out my blog on tumblr called sladiverhq.
Anyway, sorry for letting the angst monster loose...