Penance

Disclaimer: I own nothing but what you see here. A little something I thought of earlier today that is pretty much Slade focused. Special thanks to Phillipe363 for a bit of input of his on this idea as well!

It had been a Hellacious time for one Slade Wilson after he came too in the currents that were sending him wherever. Which had not been the best way to wake up either for that matter in his view! He had one thought on his mind as he struggled to break free of the grip the currents had on him. Currents that were sending him against nasty rocks that tore up his skin for that matter. His one thought being of survival as he did NOT want to die like this. Barely caring about the fact that a piece of arrow was still in the remains of his eye thanks to Oliver as he fought to survive. Eventually, he managed to break the surface of the ocean with a loud gasp but soon passed out thanks to being incredibly worn out despite the Mirakuru in his system. Some days later, or perhaps weeks later, he wasn't terribly sure of either of those, Slade would awaken with another gasp. Quickly finding himself in a very small town that was situated on the coast of China and none of them spoke a lick of English either for that matter much to his dismay. Thankfully, the local doctor had seen fit to remove the piece of arrow still in his eye. Unfortunately, said eye was now gone and the Mirakuru seemed unable to bring it back. Whether that was because it was taxed out for the time being or simply beyond its limitations was something he didn't know.

During his stay with the locals of the small town, Slade would find himself strongly wishing he had listened to Oliver and asked Shado to give him lessons in Mandarin. As it would have probably made conversing with the locals much more easier! After a week of rest as he found it hard to move due to his struggles, a week that saw him beginning to think long and hard about a few things as well for that matter, he was able to get out of the bed and make use of a telephone the locals thankfully had. Using it to call his Superiors in ASIS through a specialized set of numbers that could be entered anywhere so long as you had a working telephone line. Thankfully, he'd only have to wait a day or two for them to come and get him via helicopter but the wait would allow him to think even more about things. Such as his abhorrent actions towards particularly Oliver. Realizing that Ivo's bastard self had truly played him like a fool and he hated that he had fell for it. Knowing that the Mirakuru had a hand in doing so thanks to its effects. Were Shado still alive, he knew she would be so damned disappointed in him for his actions and he couldn't fault Oliver at all for what he had chosen to do there in the end. As he might have done the same if the situation was reversed. Needless to say, Slade was horrified with himself and deeply ashamed.

Whether or not you're still alive, I'll do better by you and Shado, Kid. Promised the man to himself.

His time back with ASIS hadn't been the easiest since he had to go through numerous briefings and psych evaluations. All of that had nearly seen him be placed in an Asylum for not only the protect of others, but his own as well. His Government was thankfully smart enough to realize what a bad idea the Mirakuru in his system was and sought ways to remove it without killing him. Which worked just fine for him as he no longer wished to be in the military after all he'd been through and instead, just wanted to gain penance by keeping watch over the Kid's family. Even if they wouldn't allow it. While he dealt with ASIS, being legally brought back from the dead, re-uniting with his son Joe and learning that his mother had been killed in a car accident, forcing the young man to move in with his mother's sister, a group from America known as STAR Labs learned of situation and offered to help out. Not knowing this was in part a move on Eobard Thawne's to remove a potential threat to his plans and possibly making use of the Mirakuru in his blood for his own ends. The offer was one Slade immediately took despite the fact it would take some time before a cure could be made for him as they had to study the Mirakuru to properly develop what he needed. Slade just hoped they were able to come up with it before he went off the rails again but would do his damnedest to keep it from happening.

The therapist he'd been ordered to see had even helpfully given him a few options he could try whenever he began to get angry or began to hallucinate Shado. Occasionally, he found himself hallucinating a most unhappy Oliver. That he could deal with, but when it was Wintergreen, Fyers, or Ivo, it was a whole Helluva lot worse for him. Thankfully, those three didn't show up all that often or otherwise he really would have gone off the deep end for certain. Soon, Slade and his son made their way to America, more specifically, Starling City where his brother in all but blood had lived for many a year until ending up on Lian Yu. Needless to say, the first meeting between himself and Moira Queen really didn't go that well thanks to his blunt honesty about a great deal of things. But after he helpfully prevented a friend of Thea's from bringing drugs into the house, Moira slightly warmed up to him and hired him to be her wayward daughter's bodyguard now that she had been given something of a wake up call where Thea was concerned despite what she had been told of his less then pleasant moments. This particular development wasn't one Thea liked at all as she had been rather enjoying the lifestyle she had been getting involved with.

As not only to escape the loss of her father and brother, but also cause it was a bit on the fun side. 'Both your old man and your brother would be ashamed of you.' Slade would tell her gruffly. Despite the fact he had never even met Robert Queen but he had a feeling the man would be.

God knows he'd put his son over his knee if he ever got into that kind of garbage at her age. His words to her really hadn't sat too well with her and had even slapped him for it. And it was a damned fortunate thing he had a better grip on things or the aftermath would have been a truly ugly one for sure. But thanks to Slade, Thea would quit doing drugs after he went into detail about what the Mirakuru had caused him to do back on Lian Yu and explained that the same could happen to her at any time she took those drugs. A possibility that honestly scared the crap out of her and made her slightly more distrustful of him considering what he'd done and attempted to do to her big brother. The Lances also weren't huge fans of Slade's thanks in part to his devotion towards Oliver and the fact he pretty much sent Sara to her second watery grave. Something Detective Lance tried to get him thrown in prison for but detailed reports of his mind set at the time pretty much prevented that from happening much to the man's immense dislike. But Slade would give the man and Laurel a free pass to shoot or beat the crap out of him if they so wished since he could take it thanks to the Mirakuru.

Being told they shoot or beat the Hell out of him was something neither could really pass up on. Especially since he wouldn't do anything about it later. The whole thing being rather cathartic for Laurel since she'd been repressing a lot of anger towards Oliver and Sara and Slade had practically yelled at her to let it out since doing that wasn't healthy at all. Quentin felt somewhat better after all was said and done but it wasn't enough to bring back Sara and Laurel for awhile would feel a bit empty after finally letting out her anger. Slade would even offer to train her to help improve her self defense skills and focus on other things. An offer she surprisingly took him up on much to her dad's stunned surprise. She'd even rope Tommy into doing it too and Slade would have one thing to say about him after the first training session. 'I never thought it was possible, but you're the living proof that there is someone a lot worse then Oliver before I trained him out there when it comes to having a strong lack of skill.'

Laurel would flat out giggle over that while Tommy was just pretty damned unhappy about the man's words. And resolved to make the man eat his words and causing his father to be rather happy about the fact his son was actually doing something that wasn't bound to be embarrassing in the end. Slade also made it quite clear to Tommy that any bad habits of his was to stay as far from Joe as possible. Or unpleasant things would happen to him if he somehow influenced young Joe where those bad habits were concerned. And Tommy by that point knew the man was being dead serious to not test him on that either! The Mirakuru cure would finally come to fruition around the time of Thea's 17th birthday thanks to one Caitlin Snow after she'd been brought on board by Harrison Wells aka Eobard Thawne himself. And while the cure had thankfully worked, his senses and speed was still a touch higher then normal but it thankfully wouldn't be an issue. Thea and a boy she was interested in at the time would find this out the hard way too for that matter. But Slade was greatly thankful towards the STAR Labs team, in particular Caitlin for having helped cure him of his problem and even had dipped the good Doctor Snow and kissed her much to her shock.

Tommy had thought that with him no longer hallucinating or being worried about going into a blind rage would make him less of a grumpy asshole but would soon find out that wouldn't be the case at all much to his dismay! A little while after this would come the welcome news that Oliver was alive and well and apparently somehow had been found on Lian Yu. Which had certainly puzzled Slade quite a bit as he knew damn well the Kid hadn't been there the few times he came to the Hellhole to see if he was there. Having the thought that the Kid was either up to something or had the damned horrible luck to end up there again through some unfortunate means. Either way, he was gonna have words with him about it all! Though he did make certain to tell Moira about him being around so the Kid wouldn't get horribly spooked as he had the feeling coming to greet him in person wouldn't be much of a good thing. And when Oliver showed up, he'd be rather and understandably wary of the man for several days despite Moira telling him he needn't be. Thea would certainly give him what for for the whole thing too and causing a big argument to occur between the two siblings as Oliver just thought the one eyed man was up to something. 'Yeah, he's up to something alright.' Muttered Thea in a bitingly sarcastic way before walking off with a shake of the head.

It'd be around January when Oliver was licking his wounds and being unwilling to suit up that things would change. Mostly thanks to Slade harping on him to do some sparring with him as he knew full well what the Kid was doing with Shado's hood and even approved of it since he could tell it was a badly needed thing. Often being a sounding board to Mr. Diggle when the man needed it and wishing his brother would let him join on his little crusade. "Oh come on Kid, spar with me for a bit. What could it hurt?"

"I'm fine, Slade. I don't need to spar."

"Sure ya do, what better way to get your confidence back then a spar with good ol' Uncle Slade, hmm?"

Oliver turned to him with a slightly disturbed expression on his face. "Please don't ever say that again."

"Hey, its not my fault Carly's kid likes me enough to consider me an Uncle."

"Shows he's clearly got bad taste in his decision making." Deadpanned Oliver.

Laughter erupted from Slade and clapped his brother on the back. "I'll let you get the first hit in." Offered the one eyed man.

Causing Oliver to sigh. "You're just not gonna let this go, are you?"

"Nope!"

Another sigh escaped the archer. "Fine."

"Now that's the spirit! Plus, I'll finally have a worthy challenge again since I've been gettin' a bit bored."

"HEY!" Came the voices of both Laurel and Tommy from nearby in the front yard of the Queen Mansion and getting a grin from Slade.

The show the two put on a short bit after that was something Tommy thought they could charge admission for and getting several agreements from Laurel, Moira, Joe, Thea, Digg, and Walter. And for Slade, it felt like old times again between him and the Kid. Not to mention allowing for old wounds to heal between the two since it helped Oliver to start trusting him again and gaining just a bit more penance for his sins.

Author's Notes: Hope you all enjoyed! And do be sure to check out my latest poll and vote!