They got lucky in the end. The fighters of the group managed to save them all with only a few getting hurt—Felicity and Nyssa, who protected her taking good part of the brunt, being the ones in worst conditions though all they had were some burns that while serious weren't urgent. Oliver was just glad it was all over and everyone was safe and alive, with the exception of Malcolm. Seeing the explosives go off all over the region was one of the most terrifying and heartbreaking moments of his life. The thought of losing all of them at once was too much to bare.

But it was over and they were safe—William was safe—and that was all that mattered.

It was the beginning of something new, too, he knew.

Oliver looked around at his friends patching up, his family. At the people that were there not for the Arrow or for Oliver Queen, but for someone new. For him, just him.

"Knew you'd make it, kid."

He turned to Slade, who had removed his mask—Oliver had even forgotten he wasn't wearing his. He didn't even had his hood up this whole time. He ignored the corner of his mind that tried to look for the meaning behind it all and instead focused on the man in front of him. "I didn't," he admitted. "I just had to get him back safely. William shouldn't have been involved in all this."

Slade nodded solemnly.

"Thank you for taking care of them. Thea told me what you did."

"Of course. You trusted me with their safety," Slade answered as if that was reason enough. And it was, in a way. The both of them ignored Thea's complaint that they could've taken care of themselves and for a second Oliver thought of a time that never was; the two of them meeting under different circumstances and becoming friends, Slade and Thea, maybe teaming up on Oliver. Fighting side by side. Laughing.

They'd make a good team.

"And you? You're a free man, what will you do now?" Oliver asks because he has to, no room for doubts. "Will you continue your revenge on me?"

The man shakes his head. "No. You gave me my sanity back, kid, and my son. I won't forget that." The hand now on his shoulder was as warm and grounding as he remembered. "In all my grief and rage, with all the hallucinations, I forgot that it wasn't just Shado. You were there too, by my side. You were always there."

They share a look, communicating so much through just eye contact, getting lost in each other's stare.

Slade is the one who breaks it first, cleaning his throat. "And you, kid? I reckon I'd deserve it for all I did, if you wanted to make me pay." More than I already have, he didn't add. It wasn't enough.

"No," Oliver assures, "no, you did your part today. When we fought together all I could see was the old Slade, my partner. That's enough for me."

…

The Arrow's current team stared at the scene going on before them, all with different levels of suspicion. They trusted Oliver's judgement, of course, but that didn't mean they trusted Slade. They wouldn't ever forget what the man did. They understood that Oliver was desperate when he recruited the man and maybe he was sane again, maybe he wasn't, but it didn't matter. A psycho was still a psycho.

"So, they're friends or what?" Curtis asked confused, sitting near a resting Felicity that didn't even pretend to not be eavesdropping. Not that anyone was looking at her anyway.

"They're… well, they were island buddies before Slade went crazy and tried to kill Oliver then showed up in Star City and almost decimated the whole place and killed me..." Felicity babbles, "but you did not mean that, yesh. Sorry. I guess you could say they were friends."

Curtis looked at the where the par now seemed to be hugging it out. "That does not seems like just friends." He gestures at the men and the particularly intimate embrace they were sharing.

Which was absurd. Felicity tried to argue—emphasis on tried—but every argument she came up with defeated itself before it even managed to leave her lips until she was simply there with her mouth open like a dying fish. It did put everything that happened in a new light, now that she thought of it. Trust Oliver to be that secretive.

"Oh."

They go back at observing the two, together. Old history seemed to be told through body language now that they knew what to look for.

"Huh."

…

"So, you and blondie are really a thing?" Slade ends up asking, "I thought it was just a play to get me, when I was still… well."

Oliver changed his footing, uncomfortable at the questioning. He had already forgotten about the kiss. "No. Well, yes. It's complicated," he admits, deciding the whole thing was too long of a story to bother. They were friends again now and Felicity moved on.

The look Slade gave him was half amused half something else.

"'We're together' complicated or 'used to but now it's over' complicated? There's a difference, kid."

Thea piped in again, suspicious and annoyed. "Why the interest?"

Slade made no indication that he even heard her besides the smug look he was now sporting. He looks at Oliver for a while before throwing one of his shark smiles. "We should get a drink sometime, maybe eat something. Catch up and all," the man suggested innocently.

"You're still not forgiven," Oliver argued for the sake of doing it, he was already fighting down a smile.

"That's understandable. Make me work for it. Payback for the old times."

The archer looked him up and down, as if debating his choices. Deep down he knew there was nothing to decide here; Slade had won already. "Let's get out of this cursed island first, then we can talk."

"You got yourself a deal, kid."