Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow.
"It should have been me." Oliver said as he stood up, a glazed look on his face.
"Ollie." Laurel said, still stunned by what she was seeing.
"I should have figured there would be more than one device," Oliver said as he walked past them and over to his past self and Tommy, "Tommy is dead because of me, I have to live with that. It should have been me, not him…maybe I should just be dead…just be gone."
"You wish that it had been you instead of Tommy…you really wish that you had died…you want to die." Diggle realized and Oliver silently nodded.
"If you're trying to get yourself killed, you have another thing coming!" Thea snapped as she stormed over to her brother.
"What have I done that's made a difference? Tommy and mom are dead, Roy and Sara are gone, the city is falling apart, despite my best efforts. I have failed this city. My life amounts to nothing but failure and death." Oliver said in self-loathing.
"You haven't failed Ollie," Laurel said and he looked over at her, the glazed look fading a little, "you stopped the Glades from being completely destroyed, minimized the damage and lives lost by half. You stopped the siege, you stopped Ra's' bio attack, and you will stop Darhk. You have saved more people in this city than we can count."
"And even if that weren't true, we still need you," Diggle said as he gestured to the three of them, "we love you and we still need you. Felicity still needs you. But most of all, your son needs his father."
"Wh-how…" Oliver was too stunned to get the words out.
"It doesn't matter how we know but we know," Thea said as she held a hand out to her brother, "if you won't live for us or Felicity…then live for William. Live so that you can see your son again."
Oliver was silent and his team stared at him, hoping desperately that they had gotten through to him. Then Oliver reached out and took his sister's hand. They all smiled before they was an explosion.
Diggle, Laurel, and Thea opened their eyes with simultaneous gasps of breath. Constantine and Felicity were looking at them as they stared down at Oliver, who appeared unchanged.
"How long were we gone?" Laurel demanded.
"You only closed your eyes for a second." Constantine told her sounding perplexed.
Suddenly, Oliver shot up with a gasp, breathing heavily. Thea was by his side in a moment, looking at him concerned.
"You alright there mate?" Constantine said as he knelt down next to Oliver.
"Yeah…I'm fine." Oliver said out of breath as he exchanged glances with Thea, Laurel, and Diggle.
So, next chapter will be the final chapter that will deal with the aftereffects. So, you know the drill. Leave any thoughts or comments you may have in a review, feedback is greatly appreciated.