On May 24th 2017, Oliver Queen officially became a father. Sure, William had technically been around for over a decade, but life had always found a way to keep them apart. Until that day. When life, or rather the lack of it, finally threw them together.

In the immediate aftermath of Chase's suicide and the massive explosion, Oliver had wanted to shield William. To make sure he didn't see anything else that would further scar him. But William insisted. An avid comic book fan who'd grown up in awe of The Flash, The Green Arrow, Super Girl and the rest, William had demanded they go back to the island. After all, miraculous escapes always happened when you were dealing with super heroes and their arch enemies. Nobody is officially dead until you see the bodies, right?

Well, they'd seen the bodies. All of them.

William and Oliver sailed around to the east side of the island where Oliver had ordered the team to meet. Once docked, the father-son duo had pushed inland, searching for any survivors. Oliver pulled his bow and pushed William behind him. This time, William did not argue and for a brief moment, Oliver dared to wonder if William was following his dad, the Green Arrow, or if he was simply so desperate to find his mom that he'd trust anyone to lead him to her.

Thea had been closest to the ARGUS supply plane. Her nickname was Speedy for a reason. Curtis and Renee had been a little further back, landing within a few feet of each other. They found Quentin's corpse huddled over Felicity, Felicity's tablet melted into her hand. Oliver stumbled to a stop. Each additional team member he found increased the god awful heaviness in his stomach, the lightweight dizziness that was making his head spin and making it hard for his eyes to focus, but seeing Felicity…

Just in case.

The words following what turned out to be their last kiss. Oliver swallowed hard against the tightness in his throat and the burning pressure behind his eyes. He and Felicity… they'd been up and down and together and not, but… he'd thought they'd have more time. Time to figure it out. But time had run out.

"We have to keep going… We have to find her."

William's voice, deep enough to show he'd started his path towards becoming a man, but shaky enough to show that he was still very much a little boy, startled Oliver out of his morose thoughts. Oliver nodded and retightened his grip on his bow. They continued forward.

They found Dinah. Then Nyssa. And finally, a huddle of bodies. Oliver heard William's breath hitch and the boy's feet stilled, refusing to move any closer.

"I'll go. Wait here."

Oliver tucked his bow behind his back and headed forward even as he already knew what he would find.

Diggle was on the left-hand side, his leather jacket burned away, exposing skin scorched to the bone. Slade was on the right, his suit melted soft. They'd both tried to provide protection to the only true civilian in the group. A tear slid down his own face as Oliver gently moved Dig, his body guard and best friend of five years, to the side. The fire hadn't ravaged Diggle's front side and John's face was as relaxed as Oliver had ever seen it. Oliver repeated the gentle removal with Slade, a man who had in turns been Oliver's savior, his mentor, his torturer and his sworn enemy. Slade's Mirakuru driven insanity had wiped out part of Oliver's family, but in the end, Slade had died trying to protect the other. And for that, Oliver could find forgiveness for the man.

Having moved the two men, Oliver knelt by the body he'd most been dreading. Samantha. While accepting that Felicity was gone personally hurt him, he felt an even deeper pain now because he knew how much this would hurt his only son.

Samantha's body was not burned. Instead, she was covered in scrapes, as though the initial blast had simply knocked her off of her feet. She'd landed on her stomach, either landing there naturally or being pushed into the more protective position by Slade or Diggle. There were small pools of blood surrounding her. A few soft touches with his fingertips revealed the shrapnel perforating her body. Rather than dying in the massive blast, Samantha appeared to have died of blood lost from dozens of shrapnel wounds. Apparently Slade and Dig had gotten to her too late and their shield attempts had been in vain, the fire and concussive blasts had not been the true threat to her life.

A soft cry ripped through the air, snatching Oliver's attention from his almost detached inspection. He looked up to see William's teary gaze glued to Samantha's body. Williams cries quickly grew from soft, dazed whimpers until they were loud, gasping sobs that racked the boy's body and he sank next to Samantha's body. Oliver turned kneeling next to the son he barely knew, unsure how to offer comfort to a boy who'd just lost his entire world. He pulled the boy into a hug. William sank his head onto Oliver's shoulder but his arms hung limply by his sides, neither accepting the hung nor pushing out of it.

"I don't… I don't understand. She can't… Why would he… Why would he hurt her? Why would he hurt my mom?"

Oliver sighed. He didn't know how to even begin explaining the demons that drove Adrian Chase's madness. "He was a very sick and angry man. He… He wanted everyone to hurt like he hurt."

Still staring at his mother's body, William scrubbed a hand across his teary eyes. "He said you could have kept this from happening."

The words were flat. Not quite an accusation. Not quite a question. Just a statement. And Oliver again wondered if William was addressing the dad he hardly knew or the superhero he'd always admired.

Why didn't you save her?

"I… I tried," Oliver said, the words fall from his mouth like rusty nails, painful and useless. "I tried to stop him, but—"

The words were interrupted by the sound of chopper blades. Oliver peered into the sky, prepared to grab William and run deeper into the still burning cope of trees.

An ARGUS helicopter. Lyla. Safety.

Oliver was swamped by both relief and dread. He and William would be rescued. But he was one step closer to having to inform Lyla and JJ that their lives would never be the same. That Oliver's sins had cost them a husband and a father.

As the helicopter searched for a place to land, Oliver stood and surveyed the burning wasteland before him, still clutching William to his side. Before the explosion, he'd taken Slade's words to heart. Turning the words over and over again. And as he'd stood in front of Chase, seeing what refusing to accept the past could drive a man to do, he had to let his father's death go. But now… how could he keep living after everyone else had died?

No. Not everyone. He had a son. A son who needed him. A boy who had no one else.

Ten years ago, Oliver fought to keep living to honor his father's dying wish. Maybe now, he could push the pain aside and keep living for his son.