Slade jerked awake, the bed bouncing underneath him. He leaned forward, holding his sweat covered forehead in his hands. He was panting, and his lungs burned like he had been suffocated to the brink of passing out. The images were, thankfully, already fleeting from his short term memory. He had not felt panic like this from a mere dream, since his late twenties. A time where innocence was fading instead of dead and gone, where the growing knowledge of his metamorphosis had started to set in. The moments in which he could see past the herbs clouding his mind, to the truth.
The presence of the another in his mind had filled him with only anger and betrayal for years. He had never expected to feel such sadness, such guilt.
"Are you okay?" Oliver asked, before gently placing a hand on his partner's arm, stumbling a little as his eyes adjusted to the blackened room. He rubbed his thumb along the black ink that permanently dyed the tanned skin. "Would you like something to drink?"
Slade shook his head. "I'm fine." His shoulders relaxed as Oliver wrapped an arm around them. He allowed himself to be pulled to the blonde's chest, his head under his chin. Slade threw an arm around Oliver's ribs as the younger lowered the two of them to the mattress.
"What did you dream of?" Ollie asked, running his fingers through Slade's short, almost wire-like hair. Nightmares were not uncommon between the two of them- they were usually no worse than a cold sweat, and had lessened since the two came to Starling. After years of being together, the two could figure out the best course of action to take, whether it be holding each other or ignoring the matter till a better time.
Slade's breath caught in his throat for moment before he spoke but as he did, he sounded gruff, a lingering harshness Oliver could remember from their first week on the island. As Slade trained the younger man for their plan of escape.
"Wintergreen."
Oliver kept his fingers moving, even as his body noticeably tensed. They never spoke about the man. Slade hated him and Oliver, if he was being totally honest, still feared the man. Billy had him when he was at his weakest, tortured him through his screams. He had also been the first person, who Oliver knew would kill him, that he stood up to. Showed, or at least tried to show no fear, as his mind raced for better ways of saving himself, knowing full well that no one else would.
"Wade, his partner in ASIS; Clint, George; the last of team six, Lawton and Wintergreen. They were my closest friends, the only people I needed for a very long time. Lawton left for money, and George got kicked out a couple years back. He attempted to sell the identities of Billy and me, clever really. We were gone and knowing who was part of Deathstroke would have warranted of lot of buyers, both criminal and governmental. He got burned out. He posed the same kind of treat Malcolm did. They won't go down without a hell of a fight and they have contacts. Nothing to live for and a lifetime of experience to take a lot of people down with them. So, when something like this happens, they kind of get a get out of jail free card."
Oliver raised a brow, eyeing his partner.
"They keep only their name. Job history, funds, all gone. They get dropped off in their hometown, or the next best thing. And that's it. Most end up as mercs in one form or another, but there is a line and if it's crossed, they will be tracked down and terminated," Slade paused, his brows pulled together in thought. "Clint was gone..." Slade swallowed. "Wade died," he snorted. "And after nearly a year of suffering for information on that island," he said bitterly. For the first time in what felt like a life time, thinking of the island as not a home but as it really was. A prison.
"Wondering all that time if Billy was still alive, begging him to just tell me, almost giving them everything just to find out. It was him the whole time. They had nothing on Billy. He wanted to live. He had a country to protect, me and his family and he just..."
Oliver kissed the shell of Slade's ear, his holding the older man to his body tightly. Hoping to offer some comfort, to ground him.
"And now, I have to look after Joe. I killed his father and I didn't regret it. I still don't. This is just all kinds of wrong," he huffed.
Oliver slowly ran his fingers up and down Slade's back, having slipped a hand under the Aussie's vest, to press his cool fingers to the hot skin. To say that he understood, that Slade did nothing wrong. Voicing the matter would only make Slade question himself further.
"Lawton and Wintergreen were two people I could not imagine not seeing pretty much everyday. They both stabbed me in the back. At least when I did it, I had the decency to do so in the front. For Wintergreen anyway," the corners of his lips tugged. "I killed my best friends, both of them fathers."
Oliver perked at that. Lawton had children?
"Not that either of them were any good. Lawton left his little girl when she was born and Wintergreen only had Joey because Adeline always wanted kids. Lawton never wanted Zoe to know. He's been sending money to the mother for years, the only good act he ever did, but he still never left this life, or Wintergreen. They lived for that life and risked those they should have been there to protect to have more of it. If Joe was my son, I would have done anything to give him everything. I can't let anything happen to him."
"Neither will I."
Slade pushed himself up, his mahogany irises meeting a familiar set of warm emerald, barely illuminated by the street lamps casting though the curtains.
Oliver swallowed, looking away from his fiancé's sheepishly. "Did you ever think it? Having kids, I mean."
Slade lay his chin on Oliver's chest. "Honestly?...I always wanted to. Wade tells me I'm a real mother hen."
Oliver smiled softly at that.
"He hid out in my apartment after I left the system when I was eighteen. It was rough for the first few years and I almost gave up on the navy to stay with him, but we made it in the end."
"You were his guardian?"
"Not legally. But, yeah." Slade sighed. "I always wanted to have kids. I just never thought I could because of my lack of interest for women, then my job. What about you?"
Oliver met his eyes again. "I never thought you would love Thea like you do. I know she's not a kid but," his smile grew. "I just always figured you would be uncomfortable around kids. I'm not even sure why."
Slade chuckled.
"But you're really good. To Thea and Wade. You would make a great father."
Slade leant up and kissed him. "Would you want to?" he asked.
Oliver smiled brightly. He nodded.
Slade took the back of Oliver's head, gripping the blonde hair as they kissed. He smiled as Oliver laughed in his mouth.
"Alright. Take a break," Oliver called out.
"Oh, good," Barry mumbled.
"Thank you, lord!" Tony praised the metal ceiling of the arrow-cave.
Ollie stepped over, placing a water bottle next to each of his apprentices. The two of them were lying on their backs, their legs falling from where they had been held straight at about a seventy degree angle from the floor. The position tightened the abdomen and lower back muscles, far better than stomach crunches, although it restricted breathing. A very deceiving position.
Slade and Yao Fei, both of which had a very water of a duck's back way of thinking, appeared to be on good terms again. It was difficult to tell if Yao Fei regretted his actions but Slade did not seem to mind.
The elders trained the two newbies, hard. Then they stopped for lunch and trained again. It was like being on the island again with all the physical intensity. The plan had been to take it easy on Tony, both for his heart condition and the fact that he nearly died yesterday, so did Barry really. But Tony and Barry would not take no for an answer, something they would later regret. Tony even had the sass to bring a doctor's note.
Roy was Oliver's responsibility generally, so he sent the young man upstairs to help Tommy set the club up for some private party in one of the VIP sections. That did not stop him from hovering down to check on his girlfriend, however.
Thea took to practicing with the Muk Yan Jong with her brother, as her training with Slade had already put her ahead of the game.
Barry was a little overconfident due to the fact that he recovered quickly but in typical Slade fashion, the Australian found his weaknesses and worked him to near death with them. Meanwhile Yao Fei policed to make sure no one actually died.
Turns out that although Barry could recover quickly as his body moved faster, when he stayed as a regular human, his recovery was slowed. His speed was like a unique adrenaline, it took a lot to tire him physically. Had he not been so cocky, maybe Slade would not have taken it as such a challenge to break him.
"I think you're enjoying this a little too much," Felicity said to Slade, admiring the naked and well built chest of Barry, and the thick bare arms of Tony. Both of them smart, masculine and covered in sweat.
"I'm pretty sure you are too," Slade said, crossing his arms over his own on-view skin.
Felicity cheeks were aflame as she span her chair back around to her computers.
Slade laughed, loudly with his head thrown back. He turned Yao Fei. "What do you think?"
Yao Fei just blinked. "I have worked with less."
"Hey!" Oliver called from where he stood making hot drinks for the trainers. He picked up the two cups.
Slade raised a brow. "Who are you kiddin'?"
"Well, I don't feel bad about spitting in your tea now," Oliver purposely passed the Aussie to give his archer mentor his drink first. "Green tea and cranberry," he held out the cup.
Yao Fei gave no sound of like or even vague interest, just a simply nod of recognition with a string of polite Mandarin thanks. This did not mean much as Yao Fei was raised to be a well mannered, gracious in a gentlemanly fashion. The only clues that Oliver would get were from his own knowledge of the older man and keeping an eye on how quickly Yao Fei sipped his tea.
Oliver passed Slade his drink. "Green tea and lemon. Among other things."
"You're cute."
Oliver glared. Slade grinned.
Slade took a sip of from his tea, he gave a pleased frown, humming also, before leaving to place the cup down on the tabletop Oliver used to make his arrowheads. He stepped over to Oliver, kissing him on the cheek as he passed, making his way to the younger Queen.
Diggle smiled at the couple. Oliver had really improved emotionally since he and Slade got together. He ate and slept more, he rarely over trained into the wee hours of the morning, and he smiled and laughed. Although, still not as much as the average guy. The strong silent type was definitely his thing. But he was happy, that much was clear.
Diggle watched as Slade and Thea made their way into the middle of the room, onto a large training mat, each with a set of metal poles.
"We'll start slow. Block my hits, kid."
The steady clashes of metal were hesitant but near instantly grew in brutality on Thea's side, pushing away Slade's poles as she defended herself. Not that Slade minded. He enjoyed her will to fight, it was clearly with purpose. She was the hunter, not the prey.
Today the verdict would be called. Moira Queen. Guilty or not guilty. The siblings were delaying it for the time. Who could blame them, really. When the time came, they would be there, but no sooner.
Yao Fei glanced up as he heard the entrance door lightly screech open as the steel frame scraped against the metal stairs. His eyes stayed sharp till he saw Tommy and Roy, followed by two other people. A man and a woman.
"Wow," Cisco could not help checking out the dark haired girl. She was ferocious and unbelievably hot. "Who's that girl?" he asked with a pointed finger.
Caitlin scoffed from behind her colleague.
"Oliver's and practically my sister, Arsenal's girlfriend," Tommy said, pointing a thumb at Roy. "And Slade's surrogate daughter."
"So, don't even look at? Got it," Cisco would have sunk away had they not been going down stairs.
Caitlin frowned as she saw Barry lying on a training mat with Tony Stark. "I've never seen him worn out like that."
Oliver walked over to the bottom of the staircase, standing just to the side. "The first day is always the worst. We needed to see how far they could be pushed before they gave in," he explained. He peeked to the side as he felt Yao Fei's presence. "Cisco, Caitlin. This is Yao Fei," he bowed his head to the older man. "He taught me how to use a bow," he added, before sneaking away.
Ollie could practically feel the burn on the back of his head from a pair of black annoyed eyes, as heard Cisco squeal questions about how the teacher had learned the craft himself, while Caitlin had her own about how the arrows were made.
Tommy and Roy joined Oliver, the two of them watching Thea fight with a skill neither of them could have guessed she had.
"He's not going to like you for that," Tommy mumbled, eyes transfixed.
"He's had worse." Oliver would not admit that the act might have been pay back for Slade.
Eyes of brown and green met for a split second, smiles were exchanged before the darker returned to watching for attacks to block.
"Interesting meeting spot," Peter called up to the fire escape belonging to a condemned apartment block.
Peter would admit he felt a little put off being this deep in the Glades- he could feel the looks from the people he passed, sensing he was out of place. When he dared to sneak a glance and he was met with no confrontation. The people were quite friendly really. Some greeted him as they passed, one lady gave him directions and a group of guys offered him a cigarette, seeing the stress on his features.
"I like it," Wade looked over the railing, holding the sunglasses to his face as he did so. "Climb up, little spider."
Peter steadied the backpack as he eyed the ladder. It had been lowered but it was still a few feet off the ground. He took a few steps away, ran forward and jumped. Holding himself off the floor, he swung his body back and forth to build momentum. As he flew back, he folded his body, legs to his chest so his converse could step onto the ladder. Then he straightened his body and climbed up.
"Go, Spidey, go!" Wade cheered, clapping his hands, only stopping when Peter sat with cross legs beside him. He copied the action, before pulling away his scarf and glasses but leaving his hood up. He grinned as he saw Peter flinch as he saw him, grunting at what he saw.
"You're still wearing the mask?"
"I like it."
Peter shrugged. "You don't need to wear it, you know?"
Wade folded his arms, his tone becoming lower, sounding almost like a pouting child as he spoke, but Peter saw past the act. "It was dark."
"Still prefer you."
Wade looked at the brunette. At his smooth skin, soft hair and warm eyes. He tried to wrap his head around what Peter was saying but he just could not. He snorted. "Anyway, you said on your text that you thought you knew what caused your abilities?"
Peter's brows lowered at the blatant show of ignorance but asked something he needed to know. To see how well his theory held water. "Were you in Central city five months ago?"
Slade leant against the deck next to his partner, the two of them watching as Tony strutted around in his metal suit, shocking all those who had yet to see it.
"What do you think Lance will say when he sees this?" Oliver asked.
"Pretty sure he would shit a brick," Slade said, smiling as Oliver laughed. "A lot of paperwork involved when there's a giant robot lose in the city. And your friend in red is not going to be much better."
"Good thing they're on our side."
Slade nodded. "I don't think they're the kind to go bad."
Ollie agreed before his tone became softer. "Mom's trial is today."
"I know."
"Thea and I are going to see her before. Stay with her to the end."
Slade looked over at that. He slipped his hand into the blonde's. "Good. You should."
"I've been thinking. When she gets home, we should move back in. Not that I don't love our apartment but the manor is more private and Joe could be home schooled."
Slade could not help but smile. "Home school? Kids like that aren't normal."
"Thea and I were home schooled."
"Case in point."
Oliver resisted the urge to shove at the man's shoulder. "I'm just thinking that it would be easier for him. And the manor is a big place, I loved growing up there. And mom is really good with kids."
Slade squeezed his hand. "I'll admit, I do like it. You're really taking to the idea of having a kid around."
Oliver squeezed back. "You don't have to say yes straight away but..."
"I don't want to move him around too much."
"Exactly."
Slade nodded. "I like it," his smile grew.
Oliver pecked him on his full red lips, a smile staining his on. Oliver's eyelids were half shut as he pulled away, like he was sleepy. He was smitten.
"Have you talked with Thea about this?"
"A bit, but I think seeing mom will help," his features took a more serious tone. "Have you spoken to Wade about Joe?"
"He's got a friend looking after him, here in Starling. ASIS have buried the case for the time being. There's nothing the media will be able to find out." The sour look on Slade's face showed his worry.
Oliver cupped the back of the man's head, kissing the tip of his nose.
"Thank you." Slade sounded almost timid, so unlike himself, exposed and raw.
"I get it...no. I really don't. Explain."
"I already did," Peter groaned, "I think that the particle accelerator from STAR labs created The Streak. That it mutated him. It's the only big event that has happened this year, and all sorts of people with abilities have been on the internet. A guy who could turn into metal and another who could multiply himself. I was in Central city that night and I was bitten by a spider at the time"
Wade cocked his head. "So one spider bite gave you these abilities."
Peter shifted, seeming uncomfortable. "I was bullied a lot in school. I thought it was a smart idea to let them believe I was afraid of spiders. That if I pretended, they would think they were scaring me and wouldn't hurt me," he twitched as he heard Wade clink, he took note of the way Wade's hands were balled in fists. "That night. They stuffed me in a locker they had filled with spiders. Well, not filled but there were a lot. It was scary but I'm okay, and my powers are amazing. It was worth what happened."
"If you get caught in a tight spot again. Just call me. I'll come running, baby boy," Wade swore, leaning over to rest his chin on Peter's shoulder and locking his arm with the younger man. He felt so warm.
"Thanks. But everything's fine now, when they find me, I hide up on a wall or ceiling. it's pretty funny watching them all freak out."
Wade smirked. "I bet punching them would be more fun."
Peter choose to ignore the man. "What about you? How did you get your powers?"
"Believe it or not, they were trying to make me the new Captain America but with more killing and less spandex. I was not going to stand for that. I look bitchin'," Wade grinned.
We do look good.
As long as the spandex stays on!
Indeed.
Fit as fuck~ Yellow box sang. We could do nothing but eat and sleep for years and still look this good!
It certainly is a plus.
Although our skin is disgusting! Imagine if Peter touched it and some of it came off!
Wade hushed the boxes, batting them away with his hand, stopping mid way when he remembered Peter could see him.
"They wanted you to kill? Who's they? The government?" Peter concluded. Wade had worked for the navy after all. The thought was worrying.
"Not mine and not very by the books but yeah, pretty much."
Peter listened with wide eyes but then something caught his eye. Wade's sweater cuff had lifted ever so slightly. Revealing a thin sliver of red skin. It seemed sore. Peter reached out, gently rubbing a thumb along the crisp bumpy flesh. He was not sure where the urge had come from. He could feel how tense Wade went upon feeling his touch, gloved fingers frozen in place and he wanted to let go, not wanting Wade to be in pain.
But Wade did not move away, did not give any sign of discomfort. Not even as Peter slipped his middle and index finger into the soft red gloves, sliding along his rough palm. In fact, he relaxed, leaning into the softness.
Peter looked into the white little circles that covered Wade's eyes. "You do look good," he continued at Wade's blank expression. "In spandex."
Wade nodded, first just the once, then rapidly. "Well, that's a given."
Peter chuckled softly.
Wade adored that sound, wishing only that he could hear it for much longer.
