Chapter Four:
Oliver quickly caught Slade up with what they were facing. He listened closely, but couldn't help the glare he gave Oliver when he recounted the mountain top fight. Oliver got himself a small punch to the shoulder for that.
"Alone, you went alone? You knew he was stronger, faster and more skilled in blade combat and you decided to fight him in single combat. Have you gone crazy? Suicidal?" Slade asked maintaining eye contact with Oliver the whole time.
"What was I meant to do then? Let Thea die for Malcolm's crime? Let Malcolm die and Thea lose another parent? At least with the combat I had a chance, and I had plans in place if I lost, do you think it is a coincidence I fell off the mountain. When I knew I was losing, I pushed the fight closer to the edge, I knew if Ra's had my body he wouldn't left until it was certain that I was dead, my only chance was to fall. I'm not sorry Slade; it was the best I could do with what I had. I never planned for this to get so big. I was meant to come back and right my Father's wrongs alone. I failed, the Undertaking still happened, Tommy died, but in the mean time I gained a team as well. You were always the leader, you knew what to do and I followed. Then you were gone and I had to learn to survive, to become a leader. And it sucks. Okay. I don't know how you did it on the island, when it was freezing, we had no food, and you still kept pushing me to keep moving because Fyer's men were right behind us. There have been so many times I've wanted to give up, times that I have. So I went alone, who was I going to bring? Diggle? He has a kid now. Felicity? Who has the most basic defense skills. Roy? Who is still only beginning training, who is basically the same age as my younger sister. You? You still thought I was the reason Shado was dead. What would you have done anyway? Huh?"
Felicity, Diggle and Roy stood there shocked at Oliver's outburst. Oliver had never been this open with them, ever. They looked at Slade, who seemed to be assessing Oliver with a grim smile.
"I'm proud of you kid." Slade said. Oliver's jaw dropped. So did the rest of the team. "I got to Lian Yu a year before you washed up. You knew Billy betrayed me, but you don't know when. The plane had crashed. We had just gotten ourselves out of the wreckage and were assessing the damage when Fyers and his men arrived. We were both restrained, while Fyers was talking into his walkie talkie to his boss. That was when Billy offered to join them. Give them all the intel we had in exchange for his life. No mention of saving my life, just his. And Fyers accepted. Billy was released and I just stood there shocked. He had been my partner for years, godfather to my son. He was family, and he betrayed me. One of the guards knocked me out at Fyers say so, and the next thing I knew I was tied by my wrists in the middle of Fyers camp. That year, the whole year, every day of it, I was tortured from the moment I woke up to the moment I fell unconscious and they decided to let me stay that way. It took a whole year but one of the guards didn't tie me as tightly as they should have one night, and when I woke during the middle of the night I managed to free myself and run. Not to long after that I met you. And lets be honest kid, I'm pretty sure a girl scout would have been more useful than you were at the beginning. But soon we became friends, and then brothers. It took quite a bit for me to trust you after how Billy betrayed me, but I did. I never trusted Yao Fei or even Shado the same. But you always looked at me for the answers, for orders, for permission for every small thing. You gave me your trust completely, and that's what your team has given you. I never gave up because you never gave up on me."
Slade had placed his hand on Oliver's shoulder during this, and it seemed to the rest of the team, that he and Oliver had forgotten they were there. They both had the haunted look in their eyes that Oliver had when he remembered the past. None of them had really contemplated what Oliver had gone through on the island, and they certainly hadn't given thought to what Slade had gone through.
"I have something for you," Oliver said quietly, as he went to the crate that held his things from the island. He opened it and gently lifted a wrapped bundle and gave it to Slade. Slade unwrapped it to reveal two katana blades, his spares that he used to keep at the fuselage. He looked up at Oliver with a grin he hadn't smiled in years. Since the island, when he had killed Billy. The grin that said that he was ready to fight, and to win.