AN: Welcome back Nocturnalrites! You're character and story perspective are always so helpful! Thank you Taskeeng (Alexabout), Spartan303 and Sheridan for stepping in and helping the last few chapters.

This chapter is beta'd by Spartan303 and Notcurnalrites. And thank you Spartan303 for the cool idea you gave me that is going to develop through the story. It was a nice little twist that fit really well with what I was already doing but added a little new flavor I really like!

I've got a few more chapters written, but only partially beta'd. So hopefully as that gets done I will update a little more frequently… that is if anyone out there is still reading through my long pauses. :-)

Chapter 24 Viewpoints

Oliver and Steve had gone through the folder on Slade Wilson with a fine tooth comb. Natasha had been very through. Wilson had organized criminal ties, had married, suddenly inherited two fortunes from conveniently deceased woman and had done it all in less than four years. He was incredibly well funded, cleaver and had a reputation as a ruthless businessman. There were rumored ties to shadow corporations that had notes by them suggesting that they might have Hydra ties as well, but no proof there.

The thing that worried Steve the most was how quickly the man had amassed his wealth and power. He came on the scene with nothing but a long, successful covert ops background. Within a very short time he had become a relatively unknown powerhouse in the criminal world and a number of mercenary organizations. The files Natasha dug up on Wilson before the island said he was loyal, dedicated to the success of any mission he was assigned to. It was also noted that he was a brilliant tactician. He had been decorated by his country for his heroism and leadership in combat. He wouldn't be easy to predict or beat.

"What do you think, Cap?" Natasha asked as she came back up the stairs sporting her more familiar red hair and a very feminine business suite. He was always amazed at how she could fit into any scenario that was required of her. When he'd called her yesterday to fill her in on plans, he hadn't had it all settled in his mind where he wanted everyone, but seeing her dressed for business, Steve knew right where she'd fit. He smiled at how easily she could predict him and what he would want. Years of working together had forged them into a very effective team.

He'd been about to comment on her hair again but Oliver had quietly caught his eye and shushed him. Steve sighed internally. He was terrible with women and that wasn't likely to change. He wasn't sure what he'd done to deserve someone like Felicity that understood him, but he was thankful she'd come into his life.

"We need to get ahead of this man. He's had the advantage long enough. He's clearly been planning and preparing this for a long time. We need to throw him off his game." Steve replied.

"That's easy to say, but we don't even know where Slade is." Oliver pointed out. There was a frustrated anger in his voice. Steve could understand, but it wasn't going to help.

"We start by making Starling City a much smaller place for Mr. Wilson." Steve leaned forward and started outlining their direction. He was finishing up as Sara came through the front door. Her eyes widened when she caught sight of the table full of people.

"Sorry I'm late, Ollie," she said, crossing over to rest a hand on his shoulder. "Are you going to introduce me?" Sara asked. Steve got the feeling she already know.

"Natasha Romanoff, Sara Lance," Oliver introduced. "Natasha is a friend of Steve's and here to help." He held out the chair between he and Steve for her. Sara nodded in greeting to Natasha before sliding into the chair. It wasn't much of a welcome, but it didn't seem outwardly hostile. Steve wasn't sure what to make of Sara. She felt like a bit of a loose cannon to him.

As they filled Sara in on the plan and her part, Steve got the distinct impression that she was not at all happy.

"I think everyone is missing the point here," Sara said. "When we find him, we don't even know if we have a way to kill him."

"A bullet to the head is never a bad place to start, but if that doesn't work I'm sure we can improvise." Natasha pointed out calmly, her eyes locked with Sara's.

"If it comes to that." Steve interrupted. He didn't want everyone assuming there would be only one outcome. "Wilson was a decorated soldier once. He's pretty far gone, but if we can find a way to take him alive, we'll do it. Maybe this thing has a cure. I told you we'd try to help Roy, maybe we can find a way to help everyone that's been exposed." He couldn't help thinking of what had been done to Bucky to change him from the good man he was to the Winter Soldier. He had to believe that Buck wasn't beyond saving. What if Wilson wasn't either. He'd read his jacket. The man had enough medals and commendations to show where his heart and head had been before he'd been injected.

"That's insane," Sara exclaimed. "Whatever Slade was before, he's a killer now. Who knows if he ever wasn't."

"He saved my life and taught me to survive that island." Oliver's voice was low. Steve could see the regret there. "What he is now is an abomination of the man he was."

"Then we try to save him if possible." In Steve's book a man with Slade's record was worth saving if it was possible. Slade had been a soldier. He didn't have a choice about being injected. Bucky hadn't had a choice either. He couldn't chose to save one without at least giving the other one a chance.

"And if that's not possible?" Sara snapped back. "Then what? How many people die so that we can say we gave Wilson a chance?" She pushed her seat back hard enough that Oliver had to catch it.

"Sara, it's the right thing to do." Oliver tried. "I made the decision to inject Slade with the Mirakuru in the first place. He's my responsibility."

"And what about when he was making the decision to torture you!" she flung back. "What about that Ollie? Or have you forgotten just because most of the scars are on your back and you can't see them everyday." Sara voice broke a little as she caught her breath. Steve had seen Oliver's back when they sparred. It wasn't a pretty site.

"I haven't forgotten anything, Sara," Oliver didn't look at his girlfriend. His head was bowed and he looked like he was trying to remain calm and in control of himself.

"I don't know about that," Sara flung back. "It seems to me you are forgetting a whole lot. It seems to me you're forgetting all the men Slade killed, the way he nearly killed all of us. Where is this coming from? Saving Slade wasn't high on your priority list when you put an arrow through his eye!" She was fuming mad. Steve could see it in her face. He watched Oliver freeze. His whole body humming with tension at her words.

"Sara," Oliver stood, turning to her. "I made a mistake. I thought killing was the only way, but it's not." There was a subtext going on that had Steve worried. He glanced at Natasha. They'd discuss this later. Oliver was nervous, like he didn't want Sara to continue down the path this conversation was taking.

"No, Ollie, you don't get to back up and decide that now is the time to save Slade because you want to be an honorary Avenger." Oliver flinched like he'd been hit.

"That's not what this is, Sara," Oliver defended, his eyes blazing with a passion that made his voice crack with the effort at control. "We don't have to kill. We can be better than that."

"Where was that sentiment on the island when you had the cure and you chose instead to kill your buddy Slade? You knew it was the right decision then, Ollie. What makes you think it isn't now. The only thing different is that you've gotten caught up in being with the Avengers. You become…"

"You had the cure?" Steve interrupted the young woman's tirade. He'd bet his shoelaces that Oliver having the cure and not using it was the place in the conversation Oliver hadn't wanted Sara to go. Had Oliver had a way to save his mentor and chose not to use it? "I haven't asked for many details about what exactly happened between you and Slade on the island, but I think now might be a good time." He knew he had his 'Captain' voice on. Oliver and Sara both stiffened. Oliver looked decidedly guilty while Sara's face was a mask.

"Yes I had the cure, but by then things had gone too far too fast. I put an Arrow in his brain instead. It didn't work. He isn't dead, he just lost an eye and it didn't stop him from coming after me." Oliver was practically vibrating, his stance was so tense and still. He wouldn't look Steve in the face.

"Retracting bullet to the brain as effective countermeasure," Natasha remarked under her breath. Steve suppressed the urge to roll his eyes at her. It was nice to have his partner back. Working with Team Arrow lacked the sarcastic, gallows humor he was used to in a team.

"Did you even consider using the cure?" Steve asked, his voice betraying none of the lighter feeling Natasha's sarcastic remark had elicited. Oliver met his eyes for the first time since the conversation had turned. Steve could see guilt written there.

"I didn't consider it long enough," Steve was glad that Oliver's voice was heavy. Choosing not to save someone that had chosen to save you needed to be a decision he hadn't taken lightly.

"At least we know there is a cure." Natasha put in. "I'm assuming you no longer have any of this miracle substance?"

"Do you even hear yourselves?" Sara nearly shouted. "I've seen first hand how strong and crazy these people are once they are exposed to mirakuru. Slade Wilson has been a nightmare from the moment he woke up with that stuff running through his veins. Even before he turned on you Oliver, he was having trouble controlling himself. It doesn't matter what he was before. You feel sorry that a dog gets rabies, but you still put the dog down before he takes any more victims. That's how this works. Slade has become rabid, we put him down."

"My best friend, Bucky Barnes is the Winter Soldier because of experiments done on him," Steve stated, standing also. His voice effectively cutting off further discussion. He watched the young woman's face turn pale. Apparently Sara had heard of The Winter Soldier. "From what I can see he makes Slade Wilson look like a boy scout. Bucky didn't ask to fall off a train and be experimented on by Nazi scientists any more than it sounds like Slade Wilson asked to be wounded then saved by being injected with Mirakuru. Good men deserve more thought than being compared to a rabid dog." At Steve's words Oliver looked more guilty, but Sara held her ground.

"Maybe there is no saving Wilson," Steve continued, shutting down whatever the blond assassin had been about to say "but we will go into this with saving him as a possibility on the table. Is that understood?" Steve waited for Sara to acknowledge his words. She was staring holes through him. He recognized her stance from having worked with people like Natasha and Clint. She was weighing her choices, but giving in and following his orders wasn't very high on the list. Steve could see that.

"I need air," Sara told the room, breaking eye contact and turning on her heals.

"I'll talk to her," Oliver said, watching Sara. "Sara is right about one thing. Slade has done a lot of damage to all of us. He might not be saved."

"And her first instinct as an assassin is to kill," Natasha pointed out.

"As is yours by that logic," Oliver snapped back.

"It was, for many years," her words were calm, her stance unchanged. Nat was at her most deadly when she was calm and cold.

"And what are you now?" Oliver bit out, "because from what I saw in your files S.H.I.E.L.D dumped onto the internet, assassin still describes you very well." There was defensiveness in his voice.

"Right now I'm a driver," she told him, standing calmly. The smile she turned on Oliver was predatory to say the least. Something was up with Nat when it came to Oliver. Steve wasn't sure what it was, but he'd keep an eye on it. If the spy had taken a dislike to Oliver, she'd be professional, but it wouldn't be pretty for Oliver. They didn't need distractions. "We better go if we're going to make it to our pickup on time." She informed him. Steve glanced up at the clock on the wall and nodded.

"We'll meet you at your home in an hour, Oliver," Steve told him. "I'll trust you to tell me if you think Sara will be a problem."

"Sara won't be a problem," Oliver's gaze pulled away from Natasha to focus on him. "I'll take care of her."

Oliver watched Steve and Natasha walk out of the club. He texted Sara asking where she was. Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed his jacket and headed out to his car. He hadn't much liked the disappointment he'd seen in Steve's eyes when Sara had announced the fact he'd had a cure that might have saved Slade, but he'd chosen to kill him.

Oliver had had the feeling Sara might go there. It was all he'd been able to do not to shout back at her. If he hadn't listened to her about lying to Slade in the first place maybe they would all be at a different place right now. Oliver signed and resisted the urge to run a hand through his hair in frustration. Blaming her wasn't going to fix the situation. He had been brought up not to show his frustration so he shrugged into his jacket and paused to reach for the calm that was getting harder and harder to find these days.

Procrastinating wasn't going to do him any good. He'd better get home so he had a chance to talk to his mother before Steve arrived. He wasn't looking forward to the conversation he was going to have to have with his mother and Thea to prepare them for the protection detail that was about to come their way.

Hell he wasn't even sure what Steve had in mind and didn't that feel foreign to him. He'd been controlling so much in his life that he honestly couldn't imagine how he'd gotten to the place to allow someone else to take the lead in protecting his family. "Because you've done such a good job up until now," he muttered out loud before looking around to see if anyone had seen him talking to himself. It wasn't a habit he was willing to start. Clamping his feelings down tight, Oliver started the car and was about to pull out as his phone binged, signally that he had a text.

Swiping across the screen he read the message. A curse slipped through his lips as he tossed the phone onto the seat next to him. Sara's message was short and to the point. "I'm not ready to talk, Ollie. I'll let you know when I am."

Of course she wasn't. He'd find her later and deal with that too. Having some time to think about things might do them both good. Sara was starting to drift, she was changing. He could feel it. A part of him wondered if he shouldn't let her drift, but a bigger part was scared that no one else would ever look at him and see him. He was a damaged monster with a lot of blood on his hands. Oliver could hear Felicity's voice telling him he could be better. He tried hard to believe it most days. Today wasn't one of those days.