Teamwork

Chapter 18 - History Lesson

Lance had been hanging in the same room as Oliver for what now seemed like an eternity. Of course, he had lost all real sense of time as there was nothing in the room to indicate it's passing so it could have only been a few minutes. Regardless, Lance knew that the fact that Oliver was still passed out was not a good thing. He knew that the younger man had an uncanny ability to bounce back from things quicker than most people and the fact that he was still out was not good.

Oliver slowly started to wake from his drug induced sleep. No thanks to Slade and his tricks. He thought. As he slowly came to he made sure that he did not give any indication that he was coming round just yet. He needed to discover if he was alone, and if not then who else was there. He listened closely and could hear the breathing of one other person in the room, but he was unable to distinguish who it was before the door swung open. He kept his breathing even so as not to give away to the person coming in that he was awake.

Lance jumped when the door swung open. He was not anticipating it and the sounds startled him, drawing his attention away from the unconscious form of Oliver a few feet away. He cringed when he realized that it was Slade who was coming in, and he was carrying a whip. The whip looked different than the one that Slade had used on him. It looked to be a lot finer, more like the whip that Malcolm had used on Oliver not that long ago. Slade slammed the door shut behind him before moving over towards Lance.

"Mr. Lance, how do you like your new prison mate?" Slade asked with a sneer.

Lance decided to remain silent, again not wanting to give Slade the satisfaction of hearing how worried he was about Oliver. Besides, his throat was still very sore from screaming during the lashings he had received at the hands of Slade previously and he didn't want to say something to upset the man and gain him more lashes with the new whip.

"You still refuse to talk then?" Slade asked before moving away from Lance. "Well let's see if Oliver wants to talk to me then." He said as he walked up in front of Oliver.

Oliver knew almost instantly that it had been Slade who had walked through the door and the thought of what he had planned sent chills down his spine. He listened carefully as Slade stopped to talk to Detective Lance and was a bit surprised that the man didn't say anything in response. It was a moment later when Oliver sensed that Slade had moved closer to him.

Slade had been very specific with the sedative that they had used on Oliver. He only wanted the younger man out for just over an hour and as that time had already passed he knew that Oliver was alert. At least he took something from the training I gave him. He thought as he saw that Oliver was simply not showing he was alert. I know just how to get his attention. He thought with a smirk as he punched Oliver in the jaw. He punched hard enough for it to hurt, but not quite enough to break the kid's jaw.

Oliver had heard Slade's words as he moved but, he did not have time to brace for the impact of Slade's fist on his jaw. Slade punched with such force that Oliver's head turned to the side with the momentum of the impact. Thankfully, though, Oliver could tell that nothing had been broken. He opened his eyes as he turned back towards Slade and pinned him with his "Arrow glare", as Felicity called it.

"Hello brother." Slade said as he stood in front of Oliver. The look he was getting from the younger man was almost comical. He had seen that glare when Oliver came to him after he abducted Thea and the look had amused him then as well. "Good to see you are no longer pretending."

Oliver continued to simply glare at Slade. He could see the Detective in his peripheral vision, but didn't want to take his eyes of Slade to check on his condition.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" Slade asked, a bit amused at the fact that it seemed Oliver would be as silent as Lance had been. Well, not exactly silent, just not in the mood for conversation. He thought with a laugh. He was going to enjoy what he had planned. I wonder what Miss Smoak is thinking, knowing what I have planned for Oliver. Time to see if she told him.

Oliver watched as Slade stood in front of him with the look of a madman. He simply hoped that whatever punishment Slade had planned would be given to him instead of Lance as the Detective had already been through so much.

"Did Felicity tell you about our discussion?" Slade nonchalantly as he took a few steps away from Oliver. "We had quite a fun time talking about you when she came for a visit." He said as he turned back to look at the man he had called brother, noting the murderous look on his face at the mention of Felicity. "She was quite worried for you when I told her everything that we were going to do together. She seemed particularly worried about our first order of business as apparently someone recently had the same idea. Unfortunately for you, we are not going to be interrupted as he was."

"Did you know that the Australian Army used whipping as a means of punishment for unruly prisoners?" Slade asked as he slowly paced in front of Oliver. Time to give the kid a history lesson. He thought to himself. "Even years after our independence was gained we continued to use whipping as the main method of keeping prisoners in line. We would tie them up, much as you are now, before administering the punishment." Slade stopped his pacing right in front of Oliver to continue the lesson. "Aren't you even curious about how I know all of this?" He asked the younger man.

Oliver knew that he was about to get a brutal whipping, however he still chose not to say a word to Slade. He didn't want to give the man any kind of satisfaction at all. He simply continued to glare in response to Slade's words.

"I guess not." Slade said in response to Oliver's silence. "What about you Detective? Does this interest you at all?" He said, taunting the men, looking to see if he could get a reaction. When all he got in response was stony silence he turned back to Oliver before he continued. "My father worked as a guard in Pentridge Prison in Melbourne. He was in charge of handing out punishment to prisoners up until 1958. They used lashings from the whip or hanging as punishment in the prison, since they obviously were already imprisoned. It was my Father who handed out the last of the lashings to a prisoner by the name William John O'Meally. The man didn't handle it very well and passed out three times before the allotted number of lashings were delivered. They simply had to keep reviving him until the punishment was completed. My Father told me that his back looked like it had been shredded when he was through, the whip coated so thickly in blood that it was dripping from it."

Lance felt like he was going to be sick. From the way Slade was talking he was going to duplicate the same punishment on Oliver. Oliver's back was bad enough after Malcolm was done with it. I dread what it's going to look like when Slade is through. Lance thought as he noticed Slade starting to unwind the whip in his hand.

"This was my Father's whip, an Australian stockwhip." Slade said as he unwound the whip to let it hang at its full length. "He gave it to me when I joined A.S.I.S. right after he told me the story of Mr. O'Meally. He wanted me to be prepared for anything I might face. Thanks to him I am!" Slade suddenly grabbed the cane handle at the point that it connects to the thong and quickly hit Oliver's side with it, letting him see how painful the entire thing could be. 

"You destroyed the Lance family when you took Sara onto the Gambit. You are the reason that his family was devastated. You are also the reason that he was demoted, you shattered his reputation. You also ruined Laurel as it was your actions that drove her to drink. You are the reason that he is here today, the reason he has experienced a whip as well. He wanted for so long to see you dead, to hurt you himself." Slade paused for a moment as he walked around to stand behind Oliver. "Well, since he doesn't have the guts to do it himself I will assist him!" Slade said as he landed the first lash to Oliver's back. 

Thea sat, eyes transfixed to the TV on the wall. She had watched as Slade moved into the room, carrying the whip. It had scared her when he told the story of his Father and Mr. O'Meally. She jumped a bit in her chair when Slade hit Oliver with the handle of the whip and was surprised when he didn't even flinch, she had not been expecting that at all. She watched with dread as Slade slowly moved behind Oliver as he talked about how it was Ollie's fault that the Lance family had fallen apart and she really felt for her brother. Thea knew it wasn't all his fault and she hoped that he would see that as well. When Slade mentioned the fact that Detective Lance had wanted him dead she felt the dread growing.

Thea watched in horror as Slade drew back the whip before delivering the first lash to Oliver's back. She knew she would always remember the resounding crack of that whip, even in her dreams... and nightmares.

"Ollie!"