Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow.

So, thank you all for the responses and here is the next chapter.

Oliver Queen's loft

Night

Oliver had been sitting at the table, waiting for half an hour as he disinterestedly stared into the now empty glass. He was about to call it quits and go to bed when a voice spoke up behind him.

"Nice place you got here." A hauntingly familiar voice said cheerfully.

Stiffening in shock, Oliver looked over his shoulder. Tommy Merlyn stood behind him, smiling cheerfully at Oliver. Oliver stood up jerkily as he stared at his dead best friend in pure shock. Tommy smiled as he continued to look around the loft, appearing completely nonchalant about all this.

"Not as glamorous as the mansion but a real step up from your Arrow cave." Tommy said as he looked back over at Oliver.

"Tommy?" Oliver spoke softly, not comprehending his friend standing in front of him.

"Hey buddy. I'm the ghost of Christmas past," Tommy said in a ghostly voice before he burst out laughing, "yeah, but I'm your first guide. You and I are gonna take a trip through your past."

Tommy moved aside and Oliver could see there was a closed door behind him. Tommy gestured him forward and, after a moment, Oliver walked over. Tommy opened the door and walked inside with Oliver following him.

Oliver and Tommy found themselves in Queen Mansion. Another Oliver, looking like he was still halfway through his five year crucible, was sitting in a chair. In front of him was a laptop, which was showing Robert Queen. With clarity, Oliver realized what this was as Robert spoke.

"…there's a book Oliver, a book with all their names." Robert said before the scene froze.

"Those people on the list are still out their Oliver," Tommy pointed out and Oliver looked over at his friend, "the worst of the worst are still at large."

"What do you want me to do Tommy, go back to being a killer?" Oliver demanded and Tommy shook his head.

"No, but you want to know why you feel like you're not making a difference? You're only fighting the symptoms of the disease that's killing Star City as it festers. As long as you keep at it, no matter how you try and save the city, as a vigilante, hero, or Oliver Queen, you will always fail." Tommy warned him.

Oliver looked away, pondering this. As much as he hated to admit it, Tommy may have a point. He was at his most effective when he went after the people on the list. But he didn't know if he could go after them without using lethal force. As if sensing his train of thought, Tommy spoke up again.

"While we're on the subject, this promise you made on my grave," Tommy said and Oliver looked back over at him, "I release you from it."

"What?" Oliver asked sure he had misheard him.

"You're holding yourself back out of guilt, physically holding yourself back. You'd be so much more successful at your job if you used all your skills but you're too busy holding yourself back out of some misplaced sense of guilt over my death. It wasn't your fault; you did everything you could to save me. You are not to blame, my father is. So stop holding yourself back on my account, I absolve you brother." Tommy said firmly as he placed a hand on Oliver's shoulder.

"I…I don't know if I can Tommy." Oliver said doubtfully.

"You can Ollie, you just have to remember who you are," Tommy said as he lowered his hand to his side, "but I didn't call you here just to talk about you being the Green Arrow. I also want to talk to you about your relationship with Felicity Smoak."

"If you want to tell me that I was wrong to lie to her about William, I already know." Oliver said glumly and Tommy shook his head.

"No, I wasn't gonna talk about that but since you brought it up, you aren't as at fault as you think," Tommy said and Oliver gave him a stunned look, "yes, you started lying again and I'm not completely okay with that but, considering the circumstances, I think you can be excused for it. You were put in an impossible situation where you had to either choose between lying to Felicity or not being able to see your son. I think that, if put in your position, a lot of fathers would have done the same thing. And Diggle and Thea even told you that you made the right choice, so don't let Felicity tell you otherwise."

"Thanks buddy." Oliver smiled, grateful for Tommy's support.

"Anytime, now, onto what I wanted to talk about: your relationship with Felicity is toxic." Tommy said bluntly.

"Toxic?" Oliver repeated not expecting that.

"Yes, toxic. When you first brought her into the fold, she had a positive effect on you, both as a person and as a vigilante. But once your relationship with her evolved from friendship to more, it started to have the opposite effect." Tommy explained.

"How so?" Oliver demanded not seeing it.

"Well, for one thing, she's very controlling. It's just part of her personality; she likes to be in control of things. You may not remember the first timeline when you faced Vandal Savage but those of us up there in Heaven do. When you first started to suspect that William was your son, you did a private investigation into it. When she found out, well, take a look." Tommy said as the scene in front of them changed to resemble the house in Central City where they stayed when dealing with Savage.

He, Barry, and Felicity were out front. And he and Felicity seemed to be in some argument.

"My whole world just exploded, I think I'm entitled to a minute to process that by myself." Oliver's past self said sounding exhausted.

"You didn't process it by yourself, you processed it with Barry and the CCPD." Felicity demanded and the scene seemed to freeze.

"She gets mad at you for things that are outside of your control to the point that if you so much as breathe without her approval, she goes nuts." Tommy explained.

"Okay, she's controlling a little bit, but that doesn't make it a toxic relationship." Oliver pointed out.

"No, but combined with these other things, it kind of does," Tommy said and Oliver looked surprised that there was more, "she has overshadowed all your other relationships. Your relationship with Diggle, your relationship with Laurel, even your relationship with our sister, which was once the driving force behind everything you did. For example, after you defeated Ra's. In addition to just coming out of the Lazarus Pit, she had just lost the love of her life, who sacrificed himself for you might I add, and lost complete faith in my father, her father. The Oliver Queen I knew would have stayed for her, looked after her, and made sure she was okay. Instead, you drove off into the sunset with a blonde hottie. That may have been you pre-island, but it isn't you now."

"Okay, I admit you have a point there." Oliver admitted.

"Good, now let's look at some of your past relationships for a minute, shall we," Tommy said and the scene in front of them changed to his past self and Shado in the river, Shado washing blood off his hands, "Shado. Master archer and philosophical advisor. She helped you become the man you are today. She helped you mature and offered you support in times of hardship."

"And I killed her." Oliver deadpanned and Tommy rolled his eyes.

"You did not kill her, a psychopath with a gun did. Diggle's right, your super power is guilt arrow." Tommy muttered.

"She died because I chose Sara." Oliver said glumly.

"She died because a mad man pointed a gun at Sara's head and you just reacted. If he had aimed his gun at Shado, you would have done the same thing. Ivo wanted to kill Shado because she was the biggest threat at the time; he just did it in a way that made you feel like it was your fault." Tommy said passionately.

"Maybe." Oliver said unconvinced.

"Okay, we're getting off track here. Let's move on to a less depressing topic," Tommy said and the scene changed to Oliver and Sara in the lair, "Sara. Probably the person on this earth who can understand and relate to you the best. You're both scarred by your experiences while you were away, both carry regrets and have some PTSD. You two could relate and you loved each other with passion. It was everything that real love should be."

"Then she left." Oliver said, still feeling the pain.

"Yes, she left. You had already fought your demons and won Oliver, Sara was still fighting hers. The whole 'it's not you, it's me' cliché really worked here. If you two were ever gonna be together, she had to fight her demons." Tommy explained patiently.

"We're not done are we?" Oliver asked tiredly.

"Not yet. One more relationship," Tommy said and the scene changed to Oliver and Laurel hugging, "Laurel. Now, if we went over all the crap pre-island you did, we'd be here for a while and you'd end up feeling worse than you already do. Considering the day you've had, why don't we skip that?"

"Agreed." Oliver said relieved.

"Now, after you came back from the island, you never told Laurel how you really felt, even after she forgave you. You two never had a proper chance and I admit that me going after her is part of the reason. Another is your belief that you can never be with her. You believed that you and Laurel could never be together because of your past and because of who you are. Then Laurel found out who you were and she was not a hindrance to your work as you'd originally thought. In fact, she was an asset to you and the team, pointing you in the right direction to stopping Slade Wilson and helping you stop many others. Now, what do all these relationships have in common?" Tommy asked as he looked over at Oliver.

"They all failed miserably?" Oliver asked sarcastically and Tommy shook his head.

"When you have been at your lowest, when you needed them they have shown you unwavering support. Felicity used to do this as well, but as of late; it has been an entirely different story," Tommy said as the scene changed again, "here are some examples."

Oliver's past self and Felicity were in the lair, arguing. Oliver quickly realized that this was just after Sara had been killed.

"…one of these day, it's gonna be me. This," Oliver's past self sighed before continuing, "This life that I've chosen, it only ends one way."

"so that's it, you're just gonna spend your life hiding down here, in this cave, waiting to die? Well I'm sorry, but I'm not gonna wait with you." Felicity snapped before the scene changed.

The scene changed again and Oliver knew where and when it was the moment he was it. It was outside Verdant, just after he had returned from his duel with Ra's. He and Felicity were arguing in the alley outside the club.

"I don't want to be a woman that you love." Felicity snapped as she walked away, leaving his past self with a gutted look on his face.

"You need to be with someone who understands you, who has the emotional maturity to understand why you are the way you are," Tommy said as the scene faded away and they were back in the loft, "from observing you and Felicity the last two years, I can say with absolute certainty that she is neither of those things. She tries to control every aspect of your life, whether it is personally, professionally, or nightly. Oliver, this relationship is not healthy, for either of you."

"Maybe…but I…I'm not sure who I am outside of her." Oliver admitted, suddenly realizing the truth of that.

"Good thing you have to more guides to remind you of that." Tommy smiled and Oliver looked over at him sharply.

"You're leaving?" Oliver asked, suddenly realizing this would be the last time he would see his best friend.

"My job is done; I have to go back now." Tommy said sadly and Oliver felt choked up.

"I miss you so much." Oliver said struggling not to break down.

"Don't, I'm with you every day." Tommy said as he walked forward.

The two hugged each other one last time and, when they let go, Tommy was gone. There was no one left to see Oliver fall to his knees and break down.

So, what do you think? Please leave any thoughts or comments you may have in a review, feedback is greatly appreciated.