THERE BE SPOILERS AHEAD! IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE SEASON FINALE "SACRIFICE" AND DO NOT WISHED TO BE SPOILED, TURN BACK NOW!
Aw man. That finale, guys. It tore out my heart then tap danced on the remains.
This is the quickest turn around ever for a story of mine, obviously since the episode just aired last night. I hope I don't make anyone cry. I did while writing this, so if you do, I'm sorry.
Silence.
All-encompassing, total silence. Coming from nowhere and everywhere at the same time.
That's a feat that should be admired, because the world was going to shit a minute ago, and he's pretty sure it still is.
Actually, he knows it still is, because as he turns his wavering focus outwards, he can hear the screams of people trying to escape, the sirens and yells of police officers trying to enforce some sort of order in the chaos, and the rumble of the Glades as it falls to the ground.
The man made destruction of an earthquake device planted below the city.
The device his father created.
The device that trapped him among the debris of the CNRI building.
Yes, it's all still going on around him. But, once he got past the relief that Laurel isn't trapped with him, he found that it doesn't matter.
Or maybe he just doesn't care.
That's probably it. It's hard to care about the world going to shit outside when his world is going to shit right here. He can feel the chunks of plaster and concrete surrounding him, crushing him, keeping him from escaping to the relative safety of the street. It hurts and between the rubble and the dust in the air, he couldn't take a deep breath if he tried.
Of course, the pipe sticking out his chest keeps him from wanting to try. It hurts like hell when he's lying still. Burning and freezing and sending a spike of pain through him with every shallow breath. He doesn't even want to consider how much pain it would cause if he tried to move.
He can hear every heartbeat echoing in his ears, can feel it struggle every time, desperately trying to keep him alive. But he knows it's pointless. He knows this is going to kill him. He can feel the seconds ticking down till his body can't function around the wound and he dies.
He always figured he'd die young. A life spent partying and making stupid decisions usually lead to early death. But he always thought it would be in a blaze of glory, so quick he wouldn't know it from one moment to the next. Not bleeding out, slowly and painfully, and alone. No one there for his last moment. No one to hear his final words. No one.
Except, all of a sudden, he's not alone. He's surprised to find that Oliver is there, and Oliver is pushing debris off him, saying he was going to be fine.
He knows the exact moment Oliver sees the pipe that impaled him when the roof came down. For a second, it seems like the whole world has gone still as Oliver just stares, before he jumps back into action with a renewed effort and repeated assurances that he's going to be fine.
He knows he's not, and when he tells Oliver as much, it kills him to see the pain in his friends eyes. There's defeat there too, and he knows that, for as much as Oliver refuses to admit it, he knows just as well how this was going to end.
So he apologizes. For every bad thing he's done and every hateful thing he's said over the past eight months. Because for every part of him that hates Oliver, hates what he's become and what he's done as the Vigilante, there are five parts that love him. That are proud of him for what he's become and what he's done. Five parts that are tap-dancingly happy that he got his best friend back, even for such a short time.
And it's those parts that almost make him okay with the current situation. That make him glad it's Oliver here in his final moments. Just like he's always been. He doesn't want to die, and he's more than terrified of what comes next for him, for Oliver, for everyone. But he's happy because this time they can get a proper farewell, instead of the See you soon's of five years ago. And he allows himself a little vanity to think that after this, the fight will continue in his name, and that makes him smile.
He can tell his time is almost up, seconds left before his heart stops it's fight. And he has one last question.
'Did you kill him?"
Oliver says that he didn't, but he knows that's a lie. He want's to call him on it, to tell him that he knows that if his father wasn't dead, Oliver would've been. There are a lot of things he wants to say to Oliver, but he knows he doesn't have time for any of them, so instead he musters all the energy and conviction he has left and puts it behind the only two words he can think of that will say everything he can't.
'Thank you.'
Thank you for being there. That you for being my friend. Thank you for being my family. Thank you for being my rock, and my guide, and my light, and my hope. Thank you for coming home to us, for never giving up. Thank you for being there in the end.
Thank you for being my best friend, even when I didn't deserve it.
He hopes Oliver understands all that.
He knows Oliver understands all that, because he knows Oliver.
The last thing he hears, right as his body stops fighting and the darkness closes in for the last time, is Oliver crying, begging him to open his eyes.
Show of hands, who cried? I'm sorry guys, but my heart would not allow me to not write this.
Anyway, thanks for reading (Who likes how i turned tap dancing into an adjective?) Please let me know what you think. And don't worry, there will be more Arrow stories to come.
~CadetEyes