Hey guys! I know it's been a while since I've put up a chapter but the holidays have been crazy! I hope you all had a great holiday and enjoyed time with your family and friends! I want to thank each and everyone of you who have followed and favorited or just read this story. To LauraHouse 95 and Erudessa-gabrielle for the reviews, you guys rock. And always to my beta Mrs. Thor Odinson! Hope you all enjoy this chapter!
The Other Queen - 8
Chapter 8
Lian Yu 2007
The air was damp and the clouds were covering the sun. There was a clammy cold feel that sent shivers down Victoria's spine. Sweat was running down her forehead and down her body, making her soaked. Her stomach was churning uneasily. Slade sat next to her and winced in pain. Victoria tried to offer a small smile but grasped from the amount a pain that was coming from her side. Oliver came over with a cup and walked over to Slade and Victoria. He looked in concern and slowly helped Slade up a bit.
"Hey, you need to drink," Oliver remarked.
Slade held the cup and allowed some of the liquid to go into his mouth. Then suddenly Slade spout out all of the water. "It tastes like dirt," he declared with a distasteful look.
"You need to stay hydrated," Oliver exclaimed.
"Being dehydrated isn't my problem, my problem is having a bullet cut out of my arm with a dull blade," Slade explained.
"Let's take a look," Oliver declared.
He pulled the makeshift bandage and his face turned to concern. "That doesn't look good," Oliver exclaimed.
"It's infected," Slade growled out. Then he looked over at Victoria. "I think her wound is also infected."
Oliver looked at Victoria's wound and his face turned a little green.
"I need to stop that before it spreads," Oliver declared.
"Well when you go out to the drugstore to get disinfect, you could get me a issue of Maxim or maybe a Sports Illustrated," Slade joked weakly.
"I would love an issue of People if you get a chance," Victoria said with a chuckle then winced from the pain it caused.
Olive grabbed a knife and placed it inside his pocket.
"Yao Fei had these super herbs back at the cave that can heal anything. I am going to go get them," Oliver explained.
"You're not going to last an hour out there," Slade remarked with a weak and shaky voice.
"Oliver," Victoria said trying to get up.
Slade gently placed his good arm to stop her from moving. "Wow, what do you think you are doing, sweetheart?" he asked in concern.
Victoria sent Slade a glare that faded when she saw how concerned he looked.
"Then you should hope I'm back in forty-five minutes," Oliver exclaimed.
Oliver got out of both of their sights and Victoria looked over as Slade continued to wince in pain and was trying to muffle his groans.
"He is not going to make it without us," Victoria choked out with a wince at the pain.
"Let's hope for both our sakes that he does," Slade replied seriously.
#
Oliver made it to the cave as fast as he could. When he made it there he walked over to a large chest on the floor and picked up all of the 'super herb' that it held. He heard a noise behind him.
"Who's there?" Oliver asked.
Then turned his flashlight in the direction of the sound and saw that they cause of the sound was a young beaten up man who was crawling on the floor.
"Help me," the man begged.
Oliver looked at him in shock and asked, "Who are you?"
"My name is Alan Durand. I am an exchange student. I was on a fishing excursion with my class. We got lost and our boat caught on fire, some kind of mechanic malfunction. We had to jump ship," the young man explained.
"When?!" Oliver asked.
"Ten days ago. It was awful, I thought I was going to die," Alan replied whimpering.
"Where are the other students? Where is the ship's crew, huh?" Oliver asked in a shout.
"I think I am the only one that made it. I managed to make it to shore. I thought I was lucky but," Alan started.
"But what?! Did somebody find you, soldiers?" Oliver asked.
"Yes," Alan said with a loud whimper and started crying. "Yes. They had these masks on and attacked me, beat me, left me here. Who are they?! You can untie me at any point by the way."
Oliver hesitated and just kept looking at Alan in disbelief.
"Please those guys are coming back. You have to believe me. Untie me, please," Alan begged. "What do you think they just dropped me here as some trap?"
"Why would they just tie you up and leave you here? Why not just kill you?" Oliver questioned.
"They were going to. They got called away to some other location. If they come back they'll kill both of us. Please you have to believe me, please!" Alan begged.
"Alright. Alright turn around," Oliver commanded.
"Thank you," Alan replied with another whimper. He slowly turned around and sat on the ground. "Thank you."
Oliver brought the knife to his bounds but hesitated. He looked up at the back of Alan.
"I am sorry, but I can't," Oliver replied.
"What?! Why?! Why not?!" Alan exclaimed.
"Because I don't know you," Oliver explained.
"Are you out of your mind? Please!" Alan shouted.
Oliver turned around and headed out of the cave.
"Please! You can't leave me here!" Alan shouted after him.
#
Oliver walked into their secret hideout, Victoria and Slade perked up from their spots once they saw him.
"Wow, you're not dead!" Victoria said sarcastically.
"I thought you were a goner for sure," Slade chimed in.
"Yeah, well sorry to disappoint," Oliver joked.
He went straight to work placing the 'super herbs' into a cup of water for Slade and Victoria each. He handed Slade his first and then he helped Victoria up and held the cup for her.
"Tastes like an ashtray. But it hits the spot, kid. I owe you one," Slade said after finishing.
Victoria finished her own and Oliver smiled at Slade and Victoria with the smallest smile.
"Thanks, bro," Victoria remarked.
Victoria then turned to Slade and noticed how stiff he was even then. She hoped they both would start feeling better soon. There was nothing worse then feeling helpless on this dangerous island.
"You didn't run into any trouble out there, did you?" Slade asked Oliver seriously.
"Hm?" Oliver replied.
Slade looked at him in concern and alarm.
"No, not a bit," Oliver lied.
#
Days passed, Victoria and Slade got back to almost their full strength and were waiting for Oliver to come back from hunting. Victoria impatiently tapped her fingers against her torn up jeans. Slade silently watched as she made up one rhythm after another.
"I wonder what's been up with Oliver?" Victoria said out of the blue.
"What do you mean?" Slade asked pulling his arm to rest onto his stomach.
"He has been acting really weird lately. I mean he is quieter than usual," Victoria explained.
"I think the seriousness of our injures gave him a scare," Slade replied.
Victoria shook her head, "I think it's something more than that."
"Well if you're so concerned maybe you should ask him about it," Slade remarked.
Silence passed between the two. It wasn't awkward, or at least not anymore. They had both gone through too much for silence to be awkward between them. A thought kept running through Victoria's mind and she was biting on her lower lip, a habit she usually did when she was thinking hard about something.
"What?" Slade asked noticing her face.
"Hm?" Victoria asked having her thoughts broken up.
"What are you thinking about?" Slade asked.
"What do you mean?" Victoria asked in confusion.
"You're biting your lower lip. You only do that when you're thinking about something," Slade explained.
"Oh," Victoria replied in shock.
She hadn't noticed he had seen this certain habit of hers. Slade just looked at her and waited from her to explain.
"Slade," Victoria started.
"Yes, Victoria," Slade replied with a teasing grin.
Victoria ignored the shiver that was sent down her spine. She momentarily wonder why it had happened. However she didn't want to lose all the courage she was building up to ask him what she was about to ask him.
"You said that you had a son," Victoria said.
"I have two sons, Grant and Joe. And a daughter," Slade explained.
Victoria was surprised by this new information but that's not what she wanted to ask him.
"I was wondering who... Who their mother is... What happened to her? You don't talk about them a lot," Victoria finished.
Slade's face fell and Victoria nearly took back asking him, until he finally answered her.
"Adeline Wilson was the name of my wife. We were married for eight years, I married her when I was twenty-five," Slade explained.
"What happened? Did you get divorced?" Victoria asked placing a hand on his arm.
Slade looked down at her small little hand and couldn't help but look at it in both disbelief and gratitude. He was not expecting that reaction from her for what he had said. Or that it would matter so much to her about his life. It almost made him want to hope, that maybe she cared for him. He looked back up at her face and offered a small smile.
"No, she died," Slade replied.
"What happened to her?" Victoria said with concern.
Slade smiled bigger at her concern but knew there was nothing she could have done to prevent what happened. No one could have changed what happened.
"It was a few years after she had our youngest. The doctors said it was breast cancer. It was in our eighth year of marriage when the cancer took her from us," Slade explained.
Victoria squeezed his arm in sympathy. And offered him a concerned little half smile. He placed a hand onto hers and squeezed it in response.
"I am sorry, Slade," Victoria said at last.
"It's not your fault," Slade remarked.
"I know. But it must have been hard for you," Victoria replied. "It wasn't easy watching my father kill himself for us."
"That is what life does, it makes you stronger. Whether you want it to or not," Slade commented with a humorless chuckle.
Victoria squeezed his arm once more. Oliver walked into the crashed plane and Victoria pulled her hand away from Slade's arm. Victoria looked over at what Oliver brought. While Slade noticed how cold he suddenly felt without her small hand upon his arm and tried to shake off the feeling. Oliver looked at him quizzically. Slade only responded with a forced smile and watched as Victoria moved around her injury to keep the fire burning bright.
#
Weeks passed, Slade and Victoria were now perfectly healthy. Oliver was still in his uniform.
Slade was wearing his muscle shirt and was wearing his camo pants. Victoria was wearing a purple cami and her torn blue jeans. Oliver was trying to do pull-ups and Slade was counting. At only the number four Oliver stopped and Slade chuckled at him.
"I am more of a runner," Oliver explained.
Slade pulled off his own shirt and got ready for his turn. Victoria was trying hard not to notice his nicely built peaks, abs and didn't notice how strong and manly his arms looked. Instead she looked at the floor and Oliver gave her a funny look.
"Why the sudden desire to work out?" Oliver asked Slade.
"What else is there to do?" Slade asked in response.
Victoria laid down on the ground and started doing sit-ups. He was right, there wasn't much to do on this island. And anything that desecrated her from checking out Slade was welcomed. She knew making things difficult between them wasn't anything that she wanted to do. Maybe, maybe there would be a time to even think about it, but it wasn't now. Now they had to survive and get off this island.
"If we can try to think of another way off the island," Oliver remarked.
"There isn't another way. If there was I would have found it," Slade replied bluntly.
"I can't just sit here and wait here for Fyers to come here and kill us," Oliver exclaimed.
"I have an idea, why don't we go in the forest, gather all the bamboo we can find and make a boat like they did on Gilligan's Island," Slade said sarcastically.
"Smart ass," Victoria said under her breath.
Slade turned in her direction. "What did you say, sweetheart?" he asked pointedly.
"Oh, just shut up," Victoria mumbled back.
Oliver went over to the radio and tried to use it and found everything broken.
"That doesn't work, it got busted after the crash," Slade explained.
"Did you try getting it to work?" Oliver asked annoyed.
"I'm better at pulling things apart," Slade replied.
Oliver went to the other side of the radio where all the wires were.
"My dad was a pilot, he use to do his own maintenance," Oliver remarked.
"So what do you think maintenance is just genetic," Slade remarked with a chuckle.
"I use to help him and I remember liking it and I got pretty good at it. So maybe I can make the radio work," Oliver exclaimed.
"You should be training for the inevitable fight," Slade commented.
"I think I have a better chance at making the radio work," Oliver remarked bluntly.
#
Days passed Slade continued to train Victoria while Oliver spent most of his time working on the radio when he wasn't eating. One day Slade was out hunting and Victoria was doing some reaches and pull-ups on the pole. Slade came back after hours of being gone and had a large animal tied to a large log behind his back.
"I hope you both like barbecue," Slade remarked as he walked in.
"Thanks, Slade," Victoria said with a flushed face.
"Well I am glad someone cares that I spent six hours in a tree to get this," Slade exclaimed.
"What?" Oliver asked.
"Oliver, you've been working on that for days," Victoria declared.
"I'm not hungry, I'll eat later," Oliver replied.
Victoria shook her head and helped Slade clean the beast. Maybe Oliver wasn't hungry but she was. Slade smiled as Victoria went straight to work skinning and cleaning the animal. He thought she was pretty good at this surviving bit of being here. Oliver on the other hand would probably die without them both. He knew Oliver was strong but he got too easily distracted, too easily turned from where his attention should be. Slade was starting to get this strange feeling around Victoria, like he was a moth to flame. He just wanted to be near her. He tried to not dwell on the thought though. The last thing any of them needed right now was to be distracted. Maybe after they were off this island or maybe once Fyers was killed or off the island, maybe he could start thinking of the possibility of them together. But right now they needed to train, eat and make sure they were ready for the fight.
"You've been at that for days, give it a rest," Slade remarked to Oliver.
"That's because I can do this," Oliver replied.
"Sure kid, when pigs fly," Slade joked.
Victoria shot Slade a glare and continued skinning the meat. Suddenly the radio started to make noise and Oliver's face lit up in a large grin. Slade turned around and looked surprised."You've got to be kidding me," Slade commented and ran over to Oliver. "How did you clean this up?" Slade asked him.
"I don't know, I don't know how I got this far," Oliver exclaimed.
Victoria ran over to them and placed a hand on Slade's arm and was smiling from ear to ear. Slade picked up the mouth piece. He said something into it and waited for a response. Nothing happened and he tried again. This time he spoke longer and added different details, but still no answer came. Victoria let her hand slide off his arm and Slade forcefully slammed the mouthpiece down in angrier.
"They still can't hear us and we can't call out. We are still trapped here," Slade exclaimed.
Victoria looked down at the floor in angrier and disappointment. While Oliver just stood there looking at the radio with disgust and angrier.
Hours later Slade was turning numbs on the radio and Oliver was just sitting looking at the device with annoyance.
"If they can't hear us what's the point?" Oliver asked in confusion.
"Slade, it's still useless," Victoria chimed in.
Slade continued to turn the numbs, "You've still might have done us some good."
Suddenly they could heard Fyers voice across the radio and Slade looked beyond relieved. Oliver jumped up and ran over towards Slade and the radio. Victoria perked up and stood close by.
"I've toned in to the soldiers frequency," Slade explained.
More words were exchanged between Fyers and another male voice.
"Who is Fyers talking to?" Oliver asked.
"I don't know. Sounds like someone off the island, maybe his benefactor. But more importantly who or what is Scylla?" Slade asked.
"The Scylla was in The Odyssey from one of the nightmare chapters. Scylla was a monster," Oliver explained.
Slade grabbed both his swords and placed them in their holder. Then he handed another to Victoria.
"I want to meet this monster," Slade declared.
Then he walked towards the doorway of the hideout.
"Am I going alone?" Slade asked.
Oliver went over to grab his knife. Victoria placed her sword into her own holder and they both headed out of the camp with Slade.
#
Victoria, Slade and Oliver crouched down and hide from sight while Slade looked through the binocular.
"What is it?" Oliver asked.
"Doesn't look good whatever it is," Victoria added.
"You were right, Scylla is a monster. A Russian made anti-aircraft missile launcher. It can take out up to a hundred targets and engaging at least a dozen. From here it can shoot down a commercial airline or start a war," Slade explained seriously.
Oliver looked at him in concern. Victoria wondered what could possible bring down such a monster.
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