Author's Notes: The spring semester is in the books. Summer session started on Saturday, and we're still clearing students, but the spring semester is over and we're now in flex time. Unfortunately, my Cardiac 'Canes were swept in the third round of the playoffs … but considering we were in the basement in January, I'm damn proud of what the boys accomplished this year. A lot of cool stuff going on right now, but I'll get to that another time. For now, we have the new chapter … which is a touch shorter than I would have liked, but these things happen. So. Onto the story. In this chapter, we have Gideon reflecting on his screw-up; Meg and Slade sussing each other out; and we check in with Oliver and William, who are headed east, and William has some very specific questions for his father. Oh, and … aside from Samantha and Thea (maybe Moira, too), there will be no references to women in Oliver's life. This is about Oliver and Slade's bond, and the friendship that develops between William and Grant. In other words, there is no Lauriver, Olicity, or Canarrow. Hopefully, this won't be a disappointment, but I'm trying to avoid cluttering the story.

Chapter Two

The Quiet Sentinel

Carvalho Home

Destine, Missouri

All right, on a scale of one to ten, that qualified as a fifteen for stupidity. Maybe a twenty-five. In his own defense, it was his first time seeing his son in such a long time. He knew Slade didn't remember it … it was on Lian Yu, during a time when Slade's system was purging itself of that damnable drug, and his poor boy was suffering so. Director Michaels told him as much when she allowed him to visit. She kept an eye on him, because of her friendship with Oliver Queen … and she hadn't forgotten Gideon's own assistance on more than one A.R.G.U.S. op. Slade was a mess, face wet with tears and sweat, his hair and beard matted. He only barely recognized Gideon, thinking his father to be a hallucination, and oh, the words his little boy spat at him broke his heart. The hardest thing for a parent wasn't realizing that his child had grown up and didn't need him any more … no, the hardest thing for this parent was the knowledge of just how badly he failed his child. And unfortunately, this was common in the Wilson family.

He'd kept his son wholly out of his work whilst Slade was growing up, instead telling the boy that he ran an import/export business, and no, Slade couldn't come with him, such trips weren't for children. He never expected his son to lie about his age and join the Australian army at the age of seventeen. Maybe he should have. His son was a protector at heart, standing up to bullies from the age of seven, no matter how badly he was hurt as a result.

And then began the series of events that drove a wedge, tearing apart their already tenuous relationship. His marriage to Slade's mother fell apart rather spectacularly. Oh, he'd stopped loving her long before then, but he'd made a promise, and he believed in honoring that. Unfortunately, his wife didn't see things the same way … and because she could be a spiteful crone, decided to destroy his relationship with their son (the only saving grace in the whole mess was that she also ended up destroying her own relationship with Slade … if that could, indeed, be called a saving grace), starting with telling him the truth about Gideon's work.

And, of course, she had to choose a time when Slade was already vulnerable … his first meeting with Rose Kane and her older sister Adeline, and the older sister's seduction of him. Slade was always a smart boy and quickly came to realize that several events in his childhood that caused him grief (especially the loss of his younger sister, who would have also been Rose) resulted from his father's line of work. He was angry with Gideon for that, and with his mother for telling him when (and how) she did.

Of course, Gideon trying to interfere in his son's career didn't help, either … and meddling in his marriage was even worse. Unfortunately, he saw too many similarities between his ex-wife and Adeline Kane. It was a running joke between himself and Bastiaan that all men married/dated the same woman, they just came in different packages. However, where Adeline was concerned, it wasn't much of a joke. She had the same capacity for bitterness that Lydia had. Just as Lydia never forgave him for the death of their unborn daughter, Gideon wasn't entirely surprised that Adeline couldn't forgive Slade for leaving on that final mission to Lian Yu … and, it seemed, just as Clarissa Anderson never forgave Bastiaan for returning to the Netherlands, leaving her alone and pregnant. Never mind that she never told him that she was pregnant (hmm, a recurring theme here).

Clarissa's daughter seemed to be cut from different cloth entirely from what he could tell of his limited interaction with her … without actually having met the woman, relying only on Bastiaan's accounts, it seemed that Margreet Theodora Anderson Carvalho was more her father's daughter than her mother's. While she hadn't had any of Slade's training, it impressed Gideon far more than he was willing to admit … he noticed that the girl's immediate reaction upon gaining her senses was to grab a weapon when he woke her and stand at Slade's side. Skills could be taught … courage and honor could not. It remained to be seen if she was in fact courageous and honorable, but things looked promising at the moment.

What wasn't so promising at the moment? The way his youngest grandson looked at him, for one thing. It said oh so plainly, 'you hurt my father and I don't like that.' He was inured against Joe's dirty looks. But Grant's? Oh, that was a different story. The little boy trotted back into the house, glancing anxiously over his shoulder … ah. He wanted to make sure that Slade followed him back inside. Gideon winced at the neutral look that his only child gave him, and said the first thing that popped into his head, "I've seen Joe."

And that got his son's attention in thirty seconds flat. Slade was heading into the kitchen, but wheeled around to face him at the announcement. Over his shoulder, Gideon saw Bastiaan and his daughter emerging from the aforementioned kitchen, and since he had his son's undivided attention, Gideon went on, "He was in Vienna, Austria … the last I saw, Valentina Auer had assigned him to clean up the crypt under St. Stephen as a disciplinary measure." Slade frowned, and Gideon realized that his son was missing a key piece of information … information that Bastiaan happily provided.

With his arm around his daughter's shoulders, Bastiaan explained, "The Jackals were not originally criminals or terrorists. They were formed nearly thirteen years ago, as a special unit that could go where ASIS or ARGUS could not. Valentina isn't just the station chief in Vienna, she is also the current head of the Jackals. Your oldest? By all rights, he answers to her. She was not amused with his recent antics. So, as punishment, she assigned him clean-up duty in the crypt of St. Stephen … and that is as unpleasant as it sounds. Although, at least he doesn't have to clean up broken jars of organs." Angel immediately made a face, while Grant mouthed, 'oh, that's so cool.' Of course he did. He was an eleven year old boy.

Gideon was having a hard time deciphering his son's expression … and showing either excellent timing or equally excellent observation skills, Bastiaan's daughter said slowly, "Thirteen years ago? Dad … you … you didn't, did you?" Well. That successfully distracted almost everyone from Slade. Whether it was meant to do that or not was something else entirely. And Bastiaan … well, Bastiaan's expression was almost comical. It was somewhere between 'oops, she picked up on the timing' sheepish and 'that's my girl' pride.

"I couldn't be there when Stephen died … or when you laid him to rest. And his death was an unfortunate accident, but how many other young widows … or young widowers … were going through the same anguish you were? I swore to myself that if I could prevent even one family from experiencing what you did, then that would be success enough for me. And so, working with Valentina, I created the Jackals," Bastiaan answered. Meg stared at her father for several moments, before throwing her arms around him and hugging him tightly. Gideon glanced away from the embracing pair to look at his son … and found that same damnable empty expression on his face, making it so hard for him to read his child.

Of course, that was when Angel Carvalho sighed, sounding overly-dramatic as only a teenager can, "This lovey-dovey stuff is sweet and all, but everyone is ignoring the most important subject of all … what are we having for dinner?" There was a brief pause as the girl's words sank into everyone's brains, then Bastiaan began chuckling, Slade allowed himself a tiny smirk, and Grant giggled. Angel added, looking mock-offended, "Hey, I'm a growing girl, remember? And Grant's a growing boy!"

"That you are, dear heart … all right, normally we would go out to eat, but I don't think that's going to happen this time. Dory's is closed, and with the number of people we have … what?" Meg began when Angel began waggling her eyebrows at her mother. Oh. This should be interesting. Angel nodded to the calendar and with a confused frown, her mother looked in that direction … and then she began to smile. Uh-oh. Meg turned back to face them, asking, "How would you feel about spaghetti? I'd forgotten that tonight is a fundraiser at the church … our church, not Sissy's … everyone okay with that?"

The first word out of his grandson's mouth, naturally, was 'yippee.' Slade merely nodded and Gideon's partner-in-crime (sometimes literally) beamed. Angel smirked, "Guess we have a plan. Uhm, no offense, but whoever hasn't gotten a shower might want to get one. Just sayin,' you might be more comfortable, and we have time." She was very studiously not looking at Slade, who merely smirked right back at her in response. The girl's mother just rolled her eyes, giving Gideon the sense that this was something that happened quite frequently.

"Grant, honey, go ahead and get your shower. Angel, I don't hear the dryer going, can you check on that for me, please? Dad, this will take a few minutes, so you and your friends can make yourselves comfortable … Slade?" the woman asked. Angel headed in one direction, Grant in another, while Slade followed Meg into the kitchen, leaving Gideon and Bastiaan staring at each other with more than a bit of bemusement. Bastiaan looked away after a moment, muttering under his breath, 'flapdrol.' Gideon sat down, ignoring his friend. It was hard to imagine his driven son living here. It seemed so … mundane. He supposed he was expecting Slade to live in a somewhat larger version of what was nowadays called a 'man cave, a term Gideon found utterly ridiculous … and now there were 'she sheds.' Really? Just … really?

But maybe mundane was what his son needed, given what he'd been through during the last several years. He thought, too, of the cell his son spent years in … and couldn't argue that this was far better. It might be a temporary sanctuary, while Slade and Grant became more settled together, but even temporary sanctuaries were preferable to none at all. Now Gideon just had to figure out a way to make things right with his son. Returning to Vienna and helping his older grandson with his punishment detail might actually be easier. But Gideon had never run from a fight and he wasn't about to start now.

DSDSDSDSDS

"This may be a stupid question … but are you all right?"

She hadn't known what she was going to say until she and Slade were in the kitchen, standing no more than three feet apart from each other. And she was fairly sure that it was a stupid question, but it was also the most important question on her mind. There was no doubt in her mind that Slade could take care of himself, but in the weeks since they found Grant, Meg came to realize that she was becoming as protective of Slade as she was of Angel and Grant. It was understandable with Grant … he was a little boy who'd watched his mother die. Slade, on the other hand, was a fully grown man, who could take down an opponent with ease when he wasn't trying to protect other people. He didn't need her protection. But those protective feelings remained, and she really couldn't help herself. It was just the way she was made.

And Slade just huffed a soft laugh, answering, "I'm fine. Not the first time I've been awakened that way." Meg had a feeling he didn't just mean his imprisonment, either time, on Lian Yu. His eye softened as he added, "I can't say the same thing for you, I'm sure … so I should be asking you that." Meg allowed herself a smirk. Oh, is that what he thought? She wasn't sure if she should tell him that he was wrong about that.

"I'm fine … a bit embarrassed. Maybe I should start keeping something more dangerous than a lead crystal statue on that end table. Yeah, I know it's dangerous if I brain someone with it, but I'm not sure how far I could have thrown it. Besides … it was a gift from Stephen," Meg explained. She was a bit startled when Slade's large, warm hand settled on her shoulder and his eye fixed upon her … not so much when her heart began racing. She was becoming used to this whenever Slade touched her. So far she hadn't embarrassed herself and behaved like she was her daughter's age … so far. That wasn't to say that it wouldn't happen. She never was particularly subtle when it came to being attracted to males, regardless of her age. And she was becoming very attracted to Slade.

"Don't underestimate yourself … the fact that you reacted so quickly, that you were prepared to fight at my side? Skills can be taught … loyalty and honor can't," Slade answered quietly. His hand tightened on her shoulder. For some reason, and she hadn't figured this out yet, but for some reason, she was never able to lie to Slade. As a general rule, she didn't want to lie to Slade, had no reason to lie to him, but even little things, when he noticed that she wasn't feeling like herself … she'd admit what was wrong.

"I'm not so sure loyalty or honor had anything to do with it, Slade," she acknowledged, "I just knew that you'd been startled, and I … reacted as if we were under attack. I guess I have more internal scars from the whole warehouse situation than I realized." She mentally divided the months she'd known Slade into two categories … pre-warehouse and post-warehouse, because they both changed, and so had their respective children. Angel took to her new role as big sister like a duck to water, and while Grant still got … worried if Angel, Meg, and Slade were out of his line of sight for any length of time, he was doing better. He wasn't ready to go to school, not yet, but having Father Rick and Deacon Andy to talk to helped a lot.

Father Rick surprised her. She knew he had issues with Slade, but as it turned out, his issues had less to do with what Slade had done in the past and more with what he feared he'd do in the future. More to the point, he'd feared that Slade would just walk away after he found Grant. Neither he nor Deacon Andy were sure why he was staying, given Slade's leeriness of forming attachments, but they were both glad he was. So was she.

And he told her now, "Scars aren't a bad thing. They mean you survived something. And as I said a minute ago, don't underestimate yourself. You're a lot more than you think you are. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to make sure my son hasn't drowned himself before I take my own shower. Angel's attempt at hinting … wasn't really necessary." Meg laughed at that, and swatted his shoulder as he left the kitchen, ducking the returning swat. In the two months since he began living with them, later joined by Grant, Meg slowly became used to having a man around the house once more.

Once he healed from the beating he'd received the previous month, Slade and Grant both slept downstairs, but they began working on the spare bedroom in earnest. When Stephen and Meg bought it, the plan was to turn the spare bedroom into a nursery. Things … didn't quite go as planned, and it had been used as storage for the last thirteen years. That was slowly changing. So was the basement, for that matter … and the attic. And now the room over the garage. Now there was an idea. She could have let her father have the attic room, and put Slade's father in the room over the garage. On the other hand, maybe not. He was older than her own father, after all, even if he had behaved like an asshole.

Well. She still had work to do before they left for dinner. She sent a text to both Deacon Andy and Father Rick, telling them to expect six, rather than four, as both her and Slade's fathers would be accompanying them. Her father. That … she needed to think about that. She meant what she said about being okay with him being some sort of super spy. It was something that she learned from Slade. It wasn't about lying to people, not really. It was about protecting the people you loved in any way you could. If she'd known that her father was some sort of super spy in Europe, would it have put her and Angel in more danger? It could have.

And her father created a special unit, because he couldn't save Stephen or prevent her heart from being broken by his death. He was probably on assignment at the time, and couldn't make it in time for the funeral … and because of that, because he couldn't be there for her, he chose to honor Stephen's death and life in another way, by ensuring that other families didn't go through what she and Angel did. He couldn't save everyone, he couldn't save Stephen, but he saved who he could … and that meant everything. Even if the people chosen to serve in that unit corrupted its purpose, that didn't take away from what her father did. Not even remotely.

DSDSDSDSDSDS

Salt Lake City, Utah

Approximately the same time

"So … um … what do I call him? I mean, I know that you regard him as a brother, so do I call him 'Uncle Slade,' or something else?"

William Clayton Queen listed against his father's shoulder as they sat in the gate area of their flight from Salt Lake City to St. Louis. The flight was delayed (again), and while the gate staff was nice enough, he was getting tired of waiting. He wanted to be on the plane now, he wanted to be on his way to St. Louis (some place he'd never seen). When his dad told him where they were going, he encouraged William to look up what was there … and Will had done just that.

Dad slipped his arm around William's shoulders, exhaling a soft sigh as he thought about how to answer the question. And William thought it was interesting that he even had to think about the answer. He'd realized in the five months after … after they left the smoking remains of the island that his father and Slade Wilson had something of a complicated relationship. It was obvious, to him at least, that they really cared about each other. But things … happened.

William observed to his father at this that this seemed to happen to him a lot. Dad offered a short laugh in response, answering, 'kiddo, you have no idea.' And Aunt Thea, when she woke up, couldn't offer any help in that area. She told him that she, and the rest of the group, had reason to hate Slade. But … then again, she had reason to hate her birth father, Malcolm Merlyn, and he sacrificed his life on the island to save her. She was quiet for a few minutes, before saying that she would probably never forgive Slade for what he'd done (including killing her mother, William's grandmother, in front of her).

But … but he'd remained in Star City for William's dad for five months after the island. Maybe … well. Maybe. And she let it go at that before hugging him and asking him to tell her about his mother. She'd never known her, and wasn't even a teenager yet when he was born. The only time Oliver Queen's sister and the mother of his child met was when Adrian Chase kidnapped them both to use against him as leverage. And that wasn't real conducive to getting to know someone. No … he wouldn't guess so. And neither said anything more about that.

Finally, Dad answered, "You know, for now, just call him 'Slade.' He'll tell you what he wants when we get there. Once he finishes telling me what an idiot I am." William blinked at that, and Dad tightened his arm, adding, "Slade is an overprotective mother hen of a brother. That means he isn't shy about telling me when he thinks I've screwed up. Think of it this way … I know you like the Flash a lot, so I'll use him as an example. Say you encounter someone like Zoom, and instead of going for help, try to take him on yourself. It doesn't go well, to say the least. Slade finds out, chews you out for being so stupid, and then proceeds to go after Zoom and kick his butt. That's what Slade is like, once he decides you're his."

And William had come to realize, by now, that being Slade's didn't indicate possession, but devotion. And there were definitely worse things in the world than Slade Wilson deciding that you were his. He also realized that no matter how complicated and messy their relationship became (something Aunt Thea also explained about, including the Mirukuru), his dad never truly gave up on Slade, and while neither man would ever put it in these terms, he also never, ever, stopped loving him. And since Slade remained with Dad in the months … after … William was willing to bet the same was true of him.

Eventually, a few months after his dad came home from Kasnia, he did tell William a little more about what happened with Slade and his son, and how Slade found out about another son, Grant, who was around William's age. Dad was right. It wasn't a happy story, and Dad really wasn't happy when a member of his team commented that maybe Slade got what he deserved, after what he'd done to the city. Thinking of the quiet sentinel who stood at his father's side in those awful months after, before Aunt Thea woke up, William couldn't blame his dad.

He was on the point of asking another question, when their flight was announced. His dad grinned at him and grabbed his duffel bag, while William grabbed his backpack. Now came the final leg of their journey. In just a few hours, he would be in St. Louis, Missouri. He couldn't wait to see what it had in store for them.

TBC