A/N: Here is the next installment for this adventure. I apologize for the delay in updates. It's that crazy time of the year where I'm lucky to know what day it is when I get up in the morning because I feel as though I'm running all over the place and never getting the chance to sit down.

Hopefully you enjoy this look into Slade's part of this adventure and fingers crossed I'll be able to get the next chapter out soon!

Love always,
~starr

"What the hell do you mean you lost them?" Slade screamed, turning slowly on his heel back in the direction of the incompetent lackeys who had managed to find their way back to the bunker. For the life of him, he couldn't figure out why they would bother to come back at all when the pair of them that were holding the prize from their search had apparently disappeared off the face of the earth.

"We rounded a corner," one of them started to say, only to shut their mouth quickly after being elbowed in the side by one of his partners. He turned to face him and narrowed his eyes at him. The partner looked back at him, eyes wide with panic. Arguing with Slade or even trying to explain what was going on would just make things worse.

"I don't want to hear your excuses," Slade hissed. "Because that's all I'm hearing coming out of your mouth right now. An entire mission is wasted if those two don't return in the next hour."

Slade carded a hand through his hair and scrubbed it over his face. How the fuck did they manage to mess this up? The entire mission was spelled out from point a to point b before they had even left the bunker in search of their prize.

It was simple. Enter the warehouse on Slade's signal. Shoot anyone who wasn't wearing the same color that their team was wearing. Find the Vertigo and get the hell out of there and back to the bunker.

Slade was planning to take care of the Vertigo for mirakuru exchange at a later time. His team didn't need to know the final details of his plan for the drug. All they cared about was getting paid. The mirakuru was a secret just for him, and if he had any chance in hell to defeat Oliver Queen, then he was going to need all of the secrets he could get. Although, with the damage that Chase had been putting on his reputation, Oliver might have started to crack sooner rather than later. Or at least he was going to reveal a few more secrets that would lend in his defeat.

The pretty blonde he had been pictured with may have been his new Achilles heel. Either her or his sister, Thea. Since Moira's untimely death, Oliver had never been the same, and that made Slade smile. It was the first time he had ever seen Oliver crack. Slade smiled, thinking back to the memory of blowing Moira's brains out. He'd do it again in a heartbeat if ever given a chance, but with the pretty blonde, it might be more fun to slit her neck with a sharp blade.

A shiver ran down his spine as he thought about all the ways he could possibly torture her, but first, he needed to figure out what exactly she meant to Oliver. If she was just some flimsy floozy, there was no point in chasing after her. He wouldn't care what happened to her. Sure, he would mourn her death, but it wouldn't affect him in the same way that it would if she meant more to him.

He needed to reach out to Chase and see what he could find out. Having a reporter for the Sentinel in his pocket was proving to be very beneficial in the long game against Queen. Part of the reason for having Chase in his position was to keep Slade's names out of the papers. The longer he could keep Oliver out of the loop of his plans, the better it would be.

"Find Chase and tell him I want a word with him," Slade barked, storming away from the morons in the direction of his office. He needed to take some time to think and hope that the fools with the Vertigo showed up soon. When he closed the door to his office, he walked over to the safe and unlocked it, tossing the door back and reaching inside. He slowly pulled out the last of his stash of mirakuru out and rolled the vials around in his hand.

This wasn't going to last him long. He could feel his energy and power draining. All his body seemed to want to do was sleep, but he knew that wasn't an option right now. He had too much to do, but the same thing always seemed to happen after a mission. He needed to dose up almost immediately, but it usually didn't matter. Normally, he could use the last of his supply, and he'd be able to schedule an exchange of goods within hours of the end of the mission.

Cursing under his breath, he rolled the vials between his fingers momentarily before selecting a vial and picking it up to set it aside. He placed the other two vials that remained back into the vault and locked it quickly. He didn't need wondering eyes looking around the office, not that any of them should have been in here when they were out. He didn't even call people in here to meet with them when they had fucked up on a mission. He usually just shot them on the spot in front of everyone else. That way, no one else dared to make the same mistakes.

He walked over to his desk and opened the top drawer of the desk. He found a syringe and extracted it. Slamming the sharp end through the seal at the top of the vial, he pulled back on the plunger and watched as the liquid filled the syringe. The sweet, sweet miracle liquid that was housed inside was exactly what he needed. It was only a matter of time until things returned to normal.