No man is an island,
Entire of itself;
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
~John Donne, 1624
Oliver Queen watched in horror as the island of Lian Yu burst into hundreds of explosions. When he blinked, his vision cleared and his cheeks felt wet. He still held onto his son tightly, the only thing that made this feel - stomach-churningly - real. Oliver had known loss before. He was well acquainted with the shock and guilt that followed his father's suicide and his best friend's death, the blinding rage that followed his mother's, Sara's, and Laurel's murders. This, however, was entirely different. Everything inside him, all of the warmth and life, was suddenly sucked away. His head was light and his body was cold. For a moment, he was suspended – hanging in space, in nothingness.
"Mom?" came William's small voice. Oliver broke. He fell to his knees in front of his son and hugged him tightly.
"I'm so sorry," Oliver sobbed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He repeated the words in a whisper, smoothing the hair on the back on William's head. It's as much a reassuring action for himself as it is for William. He felt the shakes of his son's grief. God, this wasn't fair.
A dying ember struck Oliver's hand, but he barely registered the pain. He did, however, register the danger, for William's sake. Almost in response, the small boat rocked more roughly from the shock waves. Oliver stood, instincts and adrenaline kicking in. Protect. Survive.
"Brace yourself," he told William, his voice low. The boy complied numbly, hunkering down in the corner of the boat with a hand on each side.
Oliver turned to the body of Adrian Chase, and rage flared inside of him. Gritting his teeth, he hefted the body over the side of the boat. It tipped toward the opposite side in reaction and it swayed dangerously, but Oliver kept steady as he watched his adversary sink into the dark water. 'Good riddance' didn't come close to the words he wanted to use, the emotions he felt. But there was no time for that. His only goal now was making sure that little boy who shared his eyes was safe.
He ushered William into the boat's cabin, lifting him over the puddle of blood at the door. The boy looked sick. Oliver was quick to shut the door behind them.
"Are you all right?" he asked quietly, placing a hand on his son's back and leading him to the small seat in the corner. But of course he wasn't all right. Oliver wasn't sure either of them would be all right again.
To his credit, William gave a slight nod. His face was pale and tears streaked down his cheeks, but he looked less likely to vomit. Oliver had to turn his attention away; they had to get out of here before the growing waves capsized the boat or run them aground.
Thankfully, the keys were still in the ignition. Oliver was suddenly thankful he had learned to sail during his 'time away.' He set a course to get out of danger and sent out an SOS. After five years, he was right back to where it all started.
Fifteen Minutes Earlier
Felicity Smoak's eyes were wide as she looked around at the others. Diggle, Curtis, Renee, Dinah, Lance, Thea, Slade, and Samantha were gathered around her, expecting her to Science their way of this mess. But she wasn't an aviation mechanic, nor able to defuse hundreds of bombs simultaneously. The only time she felt more helpless was when she had to decide where to reroute that missile to last year. Frak it, this is what her life had become? "If Oliver kills Prometheus," she whispered, "There's no way we're making it out of this alive."
"But he's not gonna do that, right," Lance said, punctuating his words. "He's different now, changed. Done with killin'."
"People don't change, Hoss," Renee said, taking an almost threatening step toward him, so that their chests were almost touching. "Not enough to stake our lives on."
Diggle opened his mouth to argue, but Slade interrupted him. "Look, the kid is right," he said in his thick Australian accent. Everyone turned to look at him. "But I have a plan, but we have to move fast."
"Why the hell should we trust you, you murderous son of a bitch!" Thea spat. Her glare was pure venom. There was a moment of uproar among the group, with heated voiced that threatened to break out into something more physical. The effect desperation and survival instinct had on people.
Felicity stood up, holding her hands out in a defensive position in the middle of the group. "Hold on! All we're doing is wasting time we don't have!" she shouted. And they knew that, which is why they drew back so quickly. A few, especially Curtis, even looked guilty. "Now," Felicity continued, "I don't like it much either, but Slade is the only one who seems to have a plan right now, so let's hear him out." She fixed her gaze on the former villain. "And quickly."
He complied. "The prison Oliver locked me in. It's Argus made, can withstand a nuclear bomb, probably. It's our only shot." There was a pause as everyone considered this, considered trusting him. "Look, I want to live as much as you all do," he added. "We haven't much time to spare."
Felicity looked at Diggle, and he nodded, uncrossing his arms. "Let's go," he said.
"Let's go!" Slade shouted. He was at the top of the bunker, holding it open as everyone ran to catch up and get inside. Curtis was the first one to the top, and he slid down the ladder with what sounding like a rough landing at the bottom. Renee and Thea were helping Lance along, despite his protests. Felicity shuddered to think of what would happen out here if his heart gave out. None of them were medical personnel, and even if they were…
Beside her, Samantha tripped over a rock and Felicity quickly steadied her. Samantha gave a short nod of thanks before they hurried to catch up. As Diggle disappeared into bunker, leaving only Samantha, Slade, and Felicity left.
"Come on!" Slade roared, and Felicity ran faster. There was a sharp cramp on her left side and her lungs burned. Frak, she should not have skipped all those workouts. She made it to the top of the bunker, finally, and suddenly noticed that Samantha was no longer beside her. She turned to see the other woman standing still, further away than she should be.
"What are you doing? We need to go now!" Felicity called to her.
"No." Samantha's voice came back as she shook her head. "I can't! William is still out there!"
Felicity's heart sank. William, Oliver's son. Prometheus told Oliver that he had killed him. But William might not even be on the island. "You HAVE to COME! PLEASE!" Felicity shouted. Her eyes stung. "We'll – we'll figure it out! Oliver will –"
"Oliver isn't here!" Samantha yelled back. "I'm not leaving my son! I'm not leaving my baby." Even from here, Felicity could see the tears in the mother's eyes, the desperation in her face.
Then there was Diggle's arm on hers, pulling her toward the ladder. She hadn't even realized he'd come back up. "Felicity, you have to come now. We don't know how much longer we –"
Suddenly, there was an overwhelmingly loud bang and blinding light as one of the bombs exploded, then another, then another. The force of it threw Felicity back, slamming her into Diggle and the bunker door. Somehow, Diggle pulled her down the ladder before another closer explosion went off. Slade pulled the bunker door behind him, but Felicity barely heard the heavy metal clang. All she could hear was ringing in her ears, making everything almost eerily silent. She could see the others talking around her and Diggle, but their voices didn't reach her. Their concerned faces were the last thing she saw before she slipped off to nothingness.