Upon A

Broken Quiver

Disclaimer: This was inspired by some Lauriver Discord chats and ignores anything to do with Elseworlds and COIE. Events with Earth-X are almost the same except it was Alex and Maggie getting married and Barry's still in the Speed Force. This was going to be a multi-chapter story but the longer this sits on my hard drive, the less that's a likelyhood of happening.

Summary: Utterly broken and now a member of Slabside Prison, this is Oliver Queen.

45th Day in Slabside

Try as he did to hide it over the years, Oliver Jonas Queen had been slowly becoming a broken man thanks to various individuals like Malcolm Merlyn and Slade Wilson when he'd been infected by the Mirakuru. Those two, along with a few others had successfully broken parts of his soul and those parts had just never been able to be repaired. Especially where his heart was concerned given Laurel's death. Culminating in Adrian Chase managing to effectively break him more than what the others had done by doing it all at once instead of piece by piece with Ricardo Diaz adding the finishing touch by destroying his crusade in the way he had. It didn't help he hadn't been the best father to William despite trying and ultimately coming up short, along with Felicity's tendency to treat him like shit whether she meant too or not, and how things had ultimately ended with John Diggle that saw their friendship finally shatter for good. Lyla had even left John as well as she was just finally done with the man and somehow, somehow Oliver was to blame for that in John's eyes.

And even thought he was to be rightfully blamed. Oliver had even been placed into Solitary Confinement for his own protection due to the hostile feelings various inmates had towards him for his involvement in their incarcerations. This arrangement being one the President had pushed for as she was of the strong view it was something he deserved given all he'd done for his city and the world. Unfortunately, it had been all she could do given the fact he'd made that deal with Agent Watson that saw him end up in prison and frankly… He'd been ready by that point given how tired and broken he felt. It also hadn't helped that Watson had interfered with any plans to see him a free man given her methods. Plus the fact she was still pissed with him for making her another notch on his belt back during his Playboy days and as well as blaming him for the death of a loved one due to his Vigilantism.

Of course Agent Watson was also no longer in the employ of the FBI and was serving some jail time herself for her underhanded methods. Which wasn't exactly a small comfort for Oliver. Just another day in my little hole. At least my kid is happy with his grandparents in Central City.

Given that Diaz's body had been recovered after Black Siren had blasted him off that rooftop, his kid hadn't had to go into hiding. Nor had Felicity but despite that, she had made it point blank clear to him that she wasn't happy with him for going behind her back again and had decided she wouldn't have anything to do with him anymore after that. It had hurt and Oliver had felt he deserved it given how lowly he thought of himself.

Day 92

"Given the unexpected collapse of the entirety of Star City into that sinkhole, I'm sure its given you a lot to think about." Said Dr. Jarrett Parker to Oliver in the man's office at Slabside.

Oliver did nothing at first and given his reluctance to do much in Court mandated therapy, Dr. Parker didn't think he was going to do or say anything. But was mildly surprised when the man in the opposite seat actually nodded. Even more so when he actually talked! "Yeah."

"How's this make you feel?"

Oliver looked at him for a long minute. "Like its my fault and that once again I'm nothing more than a failure. Especially in the eyes of my father." Quietly said the man as he thought about the event the Therapist was talking about.

Said event taking place 3 days ago and one no one had ever expected to happen. Progress in dealing with the hole that used to be the Glades had been slow going with repairs to broken lines like gas, water, and electricity. A number of surrounding areas was also pretty heavily affected by the massive damage and that had seen quite a few folks either homeless or leaving the city altogether as time went on. One had to be careful while down in the Glades due to the fumes and other issues like decomposing bodies. There also tended to be tremors thanks to the massive hole and barricades had been set up all around the hole to prevent unauthorized individuals from getting in. At least until a hijacked bus had went careening into the barricade and past it and down into the Glades. The resulting impact causing an explosion that set off a chain reaction of explosions thanks to the fumes along with causing the tremors to get worse. Seeing to it that the ground underneath the rest of the city began to collapse without warning.

No one had an estimation yet of just how high the death toll was and even though Oliver felt guilty about it, he was relieved his son was no where near the city when that had happened. Hell, he could even admit he was glad Black Siren wasn't around either given that she had chosen to return to her Earth a week after Quentin had died. "How exactly is it your fault, Oliver?"

"Because… I was confident, perhaps arrogant, that we could handle the reparations without the help of Kid Flash. It was our city and at that time, I thought we were capable without him." Answered Oliver.

Plus, he wasn't exactly confident in Wally given how young and green the kid was at the time. "But you couldn't have possibly known what would happen by refusing Kid Flash's help, Oliver. What happened to the city is not your fault."

The fact Slabside was 40 miles away from the city was a fortunate thing for that matter. "Something tells me the thousands that are hurt or dead would say differently on that." Murmured Oliver.

Which drew the Doctor up short as the man in front of him did have something of a point. "Perhaps they would, perhaps they wouldn't. But it isn't something you need to think heavily about to the point of obsession as its not healthy. You made a mistake and all you can do from here is learn from it so that you'll never make the same one again."

A scoff escaped Oliver. "Given I'm in here for a really long time? I doubt I'll be making a mistake like that anytime soon. And it feels… Wrong, to call it all a mistake."

"Understandable. And while we still have a little time left in our session, why do you feel like you failed in the eyes of your father? And I assure you, we'll be coming back to the previous discussion in the future." Dr. Parker told him.

"I'm… I'm not ready to talk about my father."

Not when he had the realities of an entirely destroyed city on his mind and the nightmares to prove it. Nightmares that involved his father and his disappointment in him.

Author's Notes: If anyone wants to continue this, let me know.