(A/N) Wow. I actually finished a fanficiton. How about that. O_O Granted this was extremely short as well. I'd love it if you would review this if you read it. Even if you hated it, tell me what you hated about it and why. Writing on fanfiction for me is mostly about a learning experience. Reviews are like cupcakes. Or muffins. I love muffins. :3
Realization comes. Not quickly, as one might expect, but slowly. Like watching a sunrise. Seeing the morning star blaze against the shrinking night sky. There is a sense of hope, Slade realizes. Shado is dead, yes. And he thought he had been talking to her spirit all these years. A hint of red fills the sky. He had done unforgivable things. He had been at fault. Anger. Depression. Bargaining. Denial. And yes, finally acceptance.
He could never be forgiven. He knew that. Even if he spent the rest of his life working to fix his sins, he would always be hated. He knew that. But as the sun finally made its presence known, burning into the sky, tinting the sea with its magnificence, Slade felt at peace.
Escaping from his cell had been easy, in the long run. He had merely had to think like a man, and not a mad monster hellbent on revenge. It was a fitting end, he supposed. As soon as he left the island behind, he was still trapped here.
"Well, that's enough of that." Slade muttered to himself. He dropped to the ground and headed towards the fallen airplane. Home. It was good to breathing clean air. Not fouled by any pollution or traffic noise. And he would get off.
That was a promise.
He was never born to spend his life on an island, and he escapes. He creates a raft. It takes time. He loses his patience many times. But he gets it done.
Then it's a waiting game. A liferaft will never get him off of Lian Yu by itself.
It takes him a month to get off the island after building the raft. But eventually a ship passes by, and he is near enough that he is able to bump against it.
He sneaks onboard, no one the wiser to his boarding.
So it is to his immense confusion when they approach the island, and he hears the captain of the ship speaking to a small diminutive woman.
"Are you sure this is the place?" The captain is a big man, his voice imposing as he leers down at the woman. "The H.I.V.E. Master does not take kindly to mistakes."
"I'm sure. Our agents in Argus assure me that Slade Wilson is on the island." She doesn't back down. Not an inch. And Slade feels a certain respect for her, even as the news that H.I.V.E. was looking for him knocks him off his feet. Ironic. He clenches his fists. It appears that it was never going to be an easy way off the island. He should've known better.
But it's her next words that shock him even more.
"With the Arrow gone, this is our time to make our move on Starling. Our sources report that a Deadshot may have given a tip to one of Waller's men about our organization. I believe the name was Diggle? In either case, we must act quickly, taking down Argus and the Suicide Squad, and crippling the remaining vigilantes associated with them. And who better than Slade Wilson?
Oliver is missing? Gone? Dead?
Impossible.
He would find out for himself.
Slade is silent as they approach the prison, hiding deeper into the bowels of the ship. They will not find him. And he doubts that they are stupid enough to dare looking for him on the island. Riddled with traps, and the sheer gall of coming after him. Even now, he would kill first, ask questions later on that place. Trust no one you don't know.
They refuel in Japan, and he slips unnoticed off the ship, wearing a hoodie to disguise himself. The irony was not lost on him. Oliver would have a field day if he knew. Well, at one point he might have. At this point he'd probably shoot an arrow in his other eye. Not that Slade could blame him.
He makes his way back to Starling easily. Traveling between countries in disguise had never been a problem. He still had some allies who were either happy to help, or too afraid not to help him.
He stays outside Verdant, waiting until the club shuts down, seeing the woman, Felicity leaving with Roy and Diggle. No Oliver.
Still inside?
Slade was confident in his ability to escape the city even if Oliver saw him. He goes into the basement, poised for a fight.
He doesn't find one.
Oliver's suit is still in his ridiculous glass case. Slade never understood that. How had he been able to change so quickly? "I never taught him that..." Slade muttered.
The door opens and Slade pulls a gun from one of his several hidden holsters and waits, keeping the point down, to appear slightly less threatening.
Diggle walks in, turning on the lights. Perhaps he had left something behind. Either way, Slade admires his reflexes, as soon as he sees Slade standing there he jumps behind a table, finding cover, grabbing several arrows from a nearby display case, while firing shots behind his back as he does so.
"How did you get off Lian Yu?" He barks.
"I'm not here for a fight. At least, not today." Slade says calmly, keeping the gun pointed at the ground, having easily dodged the bullets. "If I wanted to kill you, you would already be dead. I had several opportunities."
"Don't be so sure."
Slade decides to let it go, but drops his gun on the floor, and kicks it towards Diggle. "I'm just hear to talk."
"You can talk your way back to Lian Yu for all I care." Diggle spits back.
"Where is Oliver?"
"He's dead."
"DON'T LIE TO ME!" Slade roars. "Why has the Arrow gone missing?"
Diggle slowly rises from the table, holding two guns directly at Slade. "He's gone. Dead. He went to fight Ra's al Ghul. Ra's killed him."
At the mention of Ra's, Slade feels his blood turn cold. He takes in Diggle's defiant stance, recognizing a fellow soldier in grief.
Diggle continues, talking over Slade's silence. "So if you want to pursue your sick vendetta against us and Oliver's family? You have to go through me first."
"I have no intention of doing that." Slade turns away from Diggle.
"Then what are you here for?"
Slade looks down at the floor for a moment, secure in his belief that the man holding a gun to his head won't betray Oliver's mercy upon him and taint his memory.
"Hands where I can see them Slade." Slade raises his hands so they are visible. Still. Best not to antagonize too much. That was not what he came here to do.
"What do you know of H.I.V.E.?" Slade asks instead, turning around.
"They killed my brother during Afghanistan. Hired a sniper." The words are forced out. Bitter to be talking to the enemy, but at the same time desperate for knowledge.
Slade raises his eyebrow. "I can tell you more about them. They know that you are searching for them. They had intended to hire me to help take you and your friends at Argus down. I declined."
"Why would you do that? Last I heard you would have done anything to keep us down."
"That is none of your concern. I merely came here to find out what had happened to Oliver and to let you know I no longer mean any harm. I will be leaving Starling, and hunting down H.I.V.E. and putting an end to their operations." Resolve fills his voice as the plan finally comes together in Slade's mind. "And I figured some information might convince you to let me leave without a fight. I'd rather not hurt you." He finishes, holding up a file, and laying it on a desk next to one of the several computers occupying the lair.
Diggle lowers his guns. "Fine. Get out. But next time we meet, I will not hesitate to put you down."
As Slade leaves, he doesn't fail to notice Diggle managing to slip a tracker onto him, nor does he miss Diggle mutter about him being a lot more politer than Merlyn.
As soon as he is out of city limits he disables the tracker. By this point he imagines that Diggle has informed the others of his escape and return. But no matter. They do not worry him. H.I.V.E. is the primary concern. If they want to be responsible for making everything Oliver fought for in his life meaningless, they'd have to go through him
That's what a brother was for right? Slade Wilson pulls out a bottle of beer, and raises it to the night sky. "Here's to you, Kid."