A/N: For starters, I was incredibly surprised to see how much support this got from the very start. Thank you guys for that! As for an update schedule, I'm aiming to post a new chapter at least once a week, but if that doesn't happen, please understand that I'm trying my hardest, but I need to prioritize other things. Other than that, I hope you enjoy what's to come in this story. I'm really looking forward to sharing it!
The large corridors were filled with more people as it drew closer to 7a.m. The smell of sterilized equipment rested heavily in the air. Doctors and nurses darted past the people collected in their work environment, but Slade and Shado barely paid them any attention as they briskly walked through them. Now out of the clothing provided by the hospital and dressed in everyday street attire, Slade and Shado made their way to the exit. As soon as they walked through the two double doors that separated the inpatient care ward, the number of people dropped, and the corridors were nearly empty.
"I have the keys to the apartment with our things," Slade muttered, "We'll go there first."
"Everything there's ready?"
"It should be if the people back at ASPAR did their jobs."
Shado nodded once but didn't say anything as a man, and a female doctor came into sight after walking around the corner. As they walked closer, the only thing she noticed that was unusual about either was the man's prosthetic arm, which looked more robotic that something people would typically wear.
"I'm telling you, it was the latest and said to be the best on the market," The Man reassured, his voice becoming clearer as he got closer, "I was guaranteed that it would function almost identically to how an actual arm would."
The doctor nodded but didn't look amused. "And if it was supposed to be the best on the market, then why did it malfunction so soon? You've had it for less than a week."
"Apparently it does that sometimes, but people said they've been able to fix them before. The company, Novum Prosthetics, and even the CEO guaranteed that it would be the best and that any malfunction could be repaired by the buyer, or we could return it to be repaired for a small fee."
"You should be able to return it for repair without any fee."
"You've heard of David Tirrell, haven't you?" The Man asked, "If he said this could be repaired, then wouldn't you believe him, especially with how much he's accomplished in the industry?"
"You would serve yourself good if you returned it, regardless of who the CEO is and if they say the product repairable or not. It's new technology and still unreliable."
The man and doctor walked past Slade and Shado, but while Slade was more focused on the path ahead, Shado looked back over her shoulder. The name of the man they mentioned was too familiar and for all the wrong reasons.
Unlike the hospital, the open hallways of the apartment complex were completely empty and silent as the former castaways walked through. Occasional scuffs from their boots on the charcoal colored carpet were the only sounds. Sleek doors made with ebony wood lined the walls with a large amount of space between them, and on the wall next to them was a number plated in silver. Each one began with 2-0, but only when they were in front of the one that read 208, Slade came to a stop. Shado waited patiently as he fished the key out from his pocket. Once there was a click from the lock, Slade pulled they key out and looked towards her.
"I think you're going to like it here."
"I wouldn't be surprised if I did," Shado replied, "You helped select this with our task in mind, did you not?"
Slade pushed the door open. "I did."
His nearly unnoticeable gesture told Shado to walk inside, and she did just that. The first thing she noticed was the large windows in the living space, where morning light broke through and cast on the white walls. Shado walked through the long entryway, passing a few rooms with closed doors, before coming to the main living space. The large windows in the living room stretched up to the ceiling, and their light illuminated the modern kitchen and dining room. From the side, a staircase stretched up towards the loft level. Beyond the living space was a sliding glass door that led out to a large balcony, where planters with small trees were placed against the walls, still giving a view to the vast city below.
"This loft is beautiful," Shado said as she approached the windows, "But I imagine that the main reason this was chosen was that of the balcony."
"The loft is on the top floor, and this is a private balcony," Slade explained from behind her, "No one else can see it but us."
Shado turned around to face the former castaway. "Is this where we'll operate?"
"No. There's somewhere else that ASPAR had set up for that purpose. Our things are already there."
"Is the book there?"
"No," Slade reached into a pocket in his jacket and pulled out a small book. The slightly faded, tawny cover was still in good condition, with no marks on the outside. Shado walked back towards him and took the book, immediately opening it and flipping through the pages. "Are you looking for something?"
"When we were back with ASPAR, we both agreed that we would start this crusade immediately, so we could go back to our lives before the island and see our loved ones again," Shado recalled, "As we were walking out of the hospital, did you hear that doctor and that man talking? About his prosthetic arm?"
"Most likely not to the extent you have."
"The man mentioned that a company called Novum Prosthetics manufactured the arm, and within a week of the purchase, it malfunctioned. Before ASPAR put us on Lian Yu to be found, I read through the list and looked into the names on it," Shado flipped another page and stopped. She held the book up so Slade could see which page it was opened to. "David Tirrell, the CEO of Novum, is in the list."
"Besides having a malfunctioning product, why would Tirrell be on the list?"
"I imagine ASPAR set up a computer in here?"
"There's a computer set up at a desk just around the corner."
Shado held the book out to Slade, and as soon as he took it, she walked towards the dining room and around the corner. A simple desk was set up with a computer that didn't look like anything fancy, but knowing that ASPAR was heavily involved with preparing the apartment, she knew the exact opposite to be true. She pulled out the desk chair and took a seat. While she turned on the computer and began her search, she heard Slade flipping through a few of the pages in the book.
"Oliver's father wrote all these names down as men who were harming the city," Slade stated, "But how would he know about all these men and their wrongdoings?"
"Oliver did tell us that before his father…. died, he told him that he wasn't the man Oliver thought he was."
"But writing a list of all those names and keeping it with him when on the Gambit. Doesn't that seem strange?"
"We don't know what kind of life he led when he was living before the Gambit, so I don't think there's any way to know…" Shado said, "You were asking about Tirrell, here it is." Slade looked up from the small book and over Shado's shoulder, where he could see on the screen several articles that were pulled up, all about David Tirrell and Novum Prosthetics. "David Tirrell, CEO of Novum, assisted in perfecting a revolutionary method for manufacturing prosthetics. They're designed to help the user with everyday tasks so it wouldn't seem like they were even using a prosthetic. According to those same users, they say the product malfunctions or even breaks. Many take the offer of sending it in to be repaired, but the fees for that are high, and there are more charges as it's repaired. Eventually, buyers would return the product, but they would never get all their money back. Some sources say that Tirrell uses the stolen money to indulge in his personal interests rather than anything related to improving the company, so there aren't malfunctions in the product to begin with."
"Since this man clearly has a reason for being on Oliver's Father's list, then I assume this is where you want to start?"
"If this man is using people who have gone through a severe trauma to fulfill his materialistic desires, then I want to see him brought to justice. No one else would take the moves necessary, and, although the police are supposed to address matters such as these, they aren't bold enough to do anything."
"Like I mentioned earlier, ASPAR has a separate place set up for that kind of thing. I believe that's where we should go next."
"Everything's there?"
"Everything."
"Then let's go. There's still a lot we need to do to get ready."
"And things at the company are going well?"
"Extraordinarily, yes. Queen Consolidated is currently working in a partnership with Krause Enterprises. Within the next month, we're expected to have more information released to the public on the current project," Walter explained as he took a sip of his tea before looking back towards Moira. "In other words, things couldn't be going better."
"That's what I wanted to hear."
"Since it's our day off, why don't we go out to lunch? There's that café down the street from the office that we usually go to. It would just be the two of us-"
"Just the two of you?"
Moira and Walter both looked up towards the entrance of the dining room and saw Thea walking in with her arms crossed over her chest.
"I wasn't expecting you to be up this early," Moira greeted, "It's only ten."
Thea glanced to the side and nodded. "Can I talk to you for a minute…. alone?"
"Is something wrong, sweetie?"
Thea didn't say anything as she kept her eyes away from her mother. Moira glanced towards Walter, muttering something to him before she stood up from her seat at the table and walked towards Thea. The teenager led the way out of the dining room and into the empty hallway just outside.
"You didn't answer my question in there," Moira said as they came to a stop, "Is something wrong?"
"Did you…see the news this morning? About the castaways?"
"Thea, please don't get into this."
"So you did see it."
"I really don't want to have this discussion with you right now."
"Why not?"
"I believe you know the reason why."
"Because you know now that it's possible that Dad and Ollie could be alive?"
"Thea-"
"You've been hiding from what happened for the past five years. You never talk about it, and you never think that it's even possible that they survived."
"Because it's not, Thea! You don't know the extent of what happened, but I do know. Believe me when I tell you there was no possible way they could have survived."
"That's what people would have said when Slade and Shado were lost!"
"Slade and Shado…."
"Those are their names. They were rescued off a remote island and brought here for treatment of some previous injuries," Thea explained, "People would have said that they never could have been alive, but here they are, alive and well. Don't you ever think, ever hope, that the same thing could have happened to Dad? To Ollie? Maybe they're out on an island, just like those castaways, and they've been waiting for someone, us, to save them. Yet here we are, think they're-"
"Thea, drop this."
"Why-"
"Now."
Moira turned around and began walking towards the entrance to the dining room, biting the bottom of her lip as she walked.
"Why won't you face this?" Thea asked. Moira stopped dead in her tracks. "Why are you so scared of thinking about them? Even when we first got the news, you never talked to me. You never opened up to me, or anyone. Is it because you were scared of believing that they were really gone? Is it because you just didn't want to face reality? We now we have a reason to believe they're alive!"
"You were twelve when the Gambit went down. You wouldn't have and still don't understand what that night meant. I do, and I accepted that your father and Oliver were gone a long time ago…. I suggest you do the same and drop this before you find yourself facing the truth… Robert and Oliver are gone…"
Thea stood frozen in place as Moira began walking back towards the dining room, a layer of tears coating her eyes and threatening to fall. But as her mother walked away, Thea heard her breath shake and saw her raise a hand to her eye.
They were both equally broken.
Flashback: Lian Yu, 4 Years Ago
Smoke rose into the sky layered in darkness, the only sound being the crackle of the fire, and the wooden box containing the miracle drug burning before his eyes. Oliver sat on a log, utterly numb while staring into the fire. His mind was completely empty, and any emotion left his body hours ago, when he, Slade, and Shado buried Sara next to his father and Yao Fei. Even after the small memorial the three of them held, Oliver had stayed entirely silent. He didn't say anything, he didn't feel anything, and he didn't reach out to Slade or Shado about what had happened.
The only thing he did say was 'I agree' when Slade proposed they burn the Mirakuru they took Ivo's men after the fight. He and Shado agreed that if anything were to happen to them and Ivo got ahold of the Mirakuru, it wouldn't end well for anyone.
The rest of the day was quiet, in respect for Sara. There was nothing more any of them could do about her, but Oliver only knew from fragments of overheard conversation that Slade and Shado were planning something to do with The Amazo. Oliver didn't know what they were going to do, but he wasn't interested. He felt completely drained of all motivation.
Oliver didn't look away from the fire and the burning box when he heard Shado's footsteps behind him, and he didn't turn towards her when she sat down next to him in complete silence.
"You've been silent ever since we paid our respects…" Shado said gently as she stared into the fire, just as Oliver was doing. "I understand what you're going through."
"This never would have happened…. if I was just honest with Laurel…"
"We all make mistakes. What Ivo did, the position Ivo put us in, and it wasn't your fault."
"I could have stopped it if I was paying attention…"
"You can't blame yourself for what another man did to her. All you can do now is… get off this island and live the life she would have wanted for you. You have your sister and your mother back in Starling. She would want you to be with them again."
"I'm not leaving this island until the man who killed her faces justice."
"And Ivo will. Slade and I have already talked about it, but right now, you should rest. You've been through a lot today. Tomorrow, we'll start preparing, alright?"
Shado put her hand on Oliver's shoulder, gently squeezing it before standing up and starting back towards the plane. She hadn't even walked a few feet away when she turned back around.
"And Oliver?" He didn't turn around. "Sara loved you, and she'd think you're doing the right thing by burning the Mirakuru. You're saving lives by getting rid of it."
Oliver didn't say anything in reply, but Shado stood there for a moment, watching him and letting her thoughts trail off. Eventually, she turned back around and started walking back to the plane. Slade stood at the opening, waiting patiently for her.
"How's he doing?"
Shado glanced back towards Oliver. "As well as he could be. Right now, he just needs time."
"Should we just leave him out there?"
"When he's ready to come back, he will. I told him that tomorrow we'll start working with the plan we discussed."
"Then we should get some rest as well. Tomorrow's going to be a long day."
Oliver couldn't see Slade and Shado from where he sat, but a few minutes later, he had the feeling he wasn't being watched. He stood up from where he sat and glanced towards the plane: it was completely dark, and no one was on the outside. Oliver walked away from the fire and didn't hesitate to go into the forest layered in thick darkness. The sky was covered in clouds, and none of the stars could break through the heavy sheet.
As soon as he was a far distance away from the plane, Oliver looked back over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't followed: he was all alone, as he wanted to be. He was careful not to make a sound as he reached into the pocket on his pants. From it, he pulled out a folded piece of cloth, and a syringe with a single dose of Mirakuru, taken straight from the box before Slade started the fire.
Oliver stared down at the syringe as he walked to the base of a tree and sat down in the brush. He folded the piece of cloth and pushed it into his mouth, and as soon as he had both of his hands free, Oliver pulled the cap off the needle. The emerald serum inside was barely visible in the darkness, but Oliver still held it above his thigh. He held it above his flesh for almost a minute, his hand trembling and his sweat loosening the grip he had on the syringe.
The Mirakuru would make him stronger. It would give him the ability to live as Sara would have wanted him to. It would let him bring justice to the man that killed her. Ivo wasn't there when she was killed, but someone could have prevented her death. The one who called him 'brother' killed her right before his eyes, and tried to blame it on another man.
His brother would pay.
Oliver drove the syringe into his flesh, clenching his jaw as the serum entered his blood. As soon as it was empty, he pulled it out and was just able to toss it to the side before feeling his entire body cry out in agony.
His groaning lasted only a minute before he felt his body go limp and his eyelids grow heavy.