Chapter 6: Broken

"Tommy!" Oliver called firmly into the darkened and seemingly empty warehouse room holding the earthquake device. First there was only silence. But then, the sound of heavy footsteps on the concrete floor reverberated in the room.

"Oliver!" Tommy's voice echoed back, the tone sounding jovial but with an edge of malice. "I wasn't sure if I would see you again. But it seems you've had a chance to speak to my wife." Tommy stood outside of a doorway, framed by the bright light of the room behind him.

Catching a glimpse of his friend, Oliver began to make his way towards Tommy. Oliver didn't deny he had seen Laurel and attempted to clarify. "If you know that it was Laurel who pulled me away, then you probably have already figured out that -"

"That you're not my world's Oliver," Tommy finished for Oliver. Tommy shrugged flippantly as he watched Oliver approach. "I should have figured. If Oliver was still alive, Thea would be alive."

Oliver had heard Laurel say that Tommy blamed himself, but hearing Tommy so casually state his belief that Oliver could have prevented Thea's tragedy caused a stabbing hurt in Oliver's chest. "Tommy, that's not true!" Oliver refuted quickly, each step drawing him nearer to Tommy. "Laurel told me what happened to Thea. What happened was not your fault!"

Tommy began to laugh softly. The sound sent chills up Olive's spine. The laughter built into something wild and then ended in a furious, wordless yell. Oliver, now within a few feet of Tommy could see directly into the piercing eyes, full of malice. "Not … my fault." Tommy took a step towards Oliver, poking a finger directly at Oliver's face and roaring, "It was absolutely my fault!"

Oliver shook his head slowly, attempting to deny it. Tommy continued, ferociously, "You died. We grieved. And none of us kept an eye on Thea. I was your best friend who should have been looking out for her anyway, and then I found out that I was her big brother and certainly should have then. The signs were all over her!" Tommy took a step back to pace as he explained, raging, "Her grades started slipping, she was always out of the house, she hated being touched, she was isolated and had no friends … she was drinking and using when she was, like, 14!"

"But no," Tommy muttered, "No, I was too busy with Laurel building this whole new, perfect life. I couldn't see she was suffering. That she was being … god, she was being tortured! Abused! Raped! Over and over -" Tommy dropped off with a sob. Oliver felt dizzy with the crassness of Tommy's description.

"A whole fucking houseful of adults and none of us could see it! Not one of us helped her! Not your mom, my dad, Laurel, me! She was a fucking kid, just a little fucking kid." Tears of rage twinkled in Tommy's hateful gaze as he turned back to look at Oliver.

"Tommy, I -" Oliver murmured softly. "I can't imagine how you must feel." He shook his head, like the images creeping in were too much for him to handle. Oliver continued, "But Tommy … even if you think you deserve to be punished, even if our parents and Laurel deserve it, why are you taking it out on an entire city? These people, they don't deserve to be hurt for something that they had nothing to do with!"

Tommy's voice turned cold as he asked, "Don't they?" Oliver's brow crinkled in confusion. Tommy stepped forward into Oliver's space and with fire in his words, shouted, "You have no idea, Oliver. NO IDEA!" Tommy turned on his heel and reentered the doorway he had come through to greet Oliver. Oliver took this as an invitation to follow and stepped through behind Tommy.

Oliver was shocked to see the walls, floor to ceiling, covered in a collage of news clippings, website comments sections, paparazzi photos, screens playing clips of broadcasts, all covering the same subject: Thea Queen. Oliver's eyes jumped from wall to wall, unable to take in what he was looking at. Slowly, in pained shock under Tommy's unwavering gaze, Oliver walked over to one wall and began to focus on the images.

There was a coroner's report declaring Thea's death an intentional overdose next to forensic photos of Thea's body in her bed, as Tommy had found her. An article from a national news journal questioned if Thea's accusations would hold up in court considering her extensive and well-documented history of being a party girl. A paparazzi photo snapped of Thea getting out of a car with a glimpse of underwear under her skirt, the small amount of underwear circled and enlarged. The pages of online comments sections didn't even attempt civility with comments suggesting that the teacher was a hero among men and what each commenter would do if they found themselves alone with the still minor-aged Thea.

Audience laughter pulled Oliver's focus from the printed comments and he looked to the closest screen showing a comedian delivering a monologue. "You've seen the pictures, right?" the comedian said and an image of Thea wearing a beautiful sequined, curve-hugging evening dress at some sort of gala event filled the screen. "Sixteen! Sixteen years old!" The audience whooped and hollered. "Look, I'm just going to say what everyone is thinking: it wouldn't matter if I was sixteen or one hundred, if someone offered me a taste, I'm not going to be the one saying I'm on a diet, right? Right?" Laughter and applause. "I get it, you're a teacher, you don't go for it." He said sadly. "But really, all I wanna do is give that lucky bastard a high-five and hand him an STD test, ya know?" he wagged his eyebrows suggestively.

Oliver stumbled back, his stomach nauseous, his head spinning as his blood pressure rose along with the horror of seeing the callous, casual, ignorant, and demeaning commentary on his much beloved little sister. Oliver found himself struggling to stand, and held out a hand, crunching at the articles on the wall as he steadied himself. Oliver closed his eyes, trying to stop the vertigo threatening to bring him to the ground.

Tommy's voice rang in Oliver's ears as he spat, "That man may have raped her for years, but this entire, wretched city killed her." Oliver could hear Tommy's footsteps taking him deeper into this shrine to Thea's downfall. "You know, it's funny," Tommy said humorlessly. "Thea stood up to her rapist so that other kids wouldn't have to suffer what she suffered. Everyone thinks they want child rapists off the streets, right? But the people who should have supported her are the same ones who fucking tore her apart."

Oliver gave a last shake of his head and opened his eyes, hoping that the tilting world might have stilled. Oliver turned to look at Tommy. "That's why you are him. The Vigilante?" Oliver questioned.

"Laurel told you about my night-time hobby, huh?" Tommy asked with a slight bemusement in his tone. "I couldn't protect Thea, so I protect other kids?"

Oliver felt a little confused by the question in Tommy's voice. Tommy chuckled. "Even Laurel doesn't know. But I guess if ever there was someone I could tell, it would be you." Tommy moved to a desk in the room and pulling out a key, unlocked and opened a desk drawer. He pulled out a small stack of books, some leatherbound, some colorful and childlike. He set them onto the desk and motioned for Oliver to approach.

As Oliver made his way to the desk, Tommy explained. "When Thea died, I felt out of control, awash with grief. I could barely get out of bed in the morning and the only thing that did get me out of bed was telling myself that I would feel better once I had some scotch to scrub my grief right out of my brain. Then Dad dropped off the overnight bag I had left at their house the day Thea died. When I went to unpack it, I found these."

Oliver picked up a book and now that he was closer, could tell that these were journals. Without opening it, but with a pit of horror in his stomach, Oliver looked up at Tommy.

"She must have slipped them in before she …" Tommy drifted off, still unable to speak about Thea's suicide. "They're her diaries," Tommy explained. "And in the one on top she left me a note." Tommy nodded towards the one in Oliver's hand. Oliver slowly opened it and found the loose sheet of paper tucked in the front. Pulling it out, Oliver saw Thea's all-too-familiar handwriting.

"Tommy,

I am so sorry. I thought I was stronger. But I'm not. I have nothing left to give, nothing left they can take. But I can't leave and not have anyone know – there are too many innocent kids out there, far more innocent than me, and I can't leave them without someone who knows. These journals have entries about every man who he made me sleep with. These are guys who are going to find kids to hurt even though he's locked up. We've both seen how the justice system works – or, rather, how it doesn't. I am sorry to put this on you, but my burden is yours now. Please, make sure they can't hurt anyone ever again. I love you, with all my heart. I'll say hey to Ollie for you.

Love, your little sister, Thea"

Oliver felt the buzzing of tinnitus in his ears. The journal in his hand felt like it was burning his palm. Oliver opened his mouth, moving his jaw, trying to lessen the pressure in his head and relieve the tension in his ears. Finally he moaned out, "No."

Tommy spoke, his voice low and vengeful, "That is where the Vigilante comes from. Thea gave her life - everything she had - to protect, and it killed her. And that man was only the tip of the horrors our sister endured in silence for years. She was sold, raped by countless men. Those journals are filled with descriptions of lewd men committing heinous acts. Hitting her. Strangling her. Forced abortions. STD treatment at clinics in the Glades."

Terrified, Oliver opened the journal in his hands to the middle and was met by childlike scrawl with a date telling him that it happened 8 months after The Queen's Gambit sank in his world. The entry described being driven in the middle of the night to a motel in the Glades, being forced into a childlike nightgown and made to wait on stained sheets while a man … Oliver slammed the journal closed. Oliver couldn't help himself. Tears fell down his cheeks and he slowly slipped down to the floor to his knees, too weak to stand.

"So you see now?" Tommy yelled, voice thick with emotion, eyes bright with tears of rage. "Tell me, if this was your Thea, if she suffered and died like mine did, would you not have done as I have?" he roared. Tommy began to explain quickly, "We all deserve to pay. Your mother, my father, me – this city! We all stood by and let an innocent, perfect child … a beautiful, kind woman … get ravaged into pieces and let her die before her life really began. And when I am done, her blood will be avenged and she can rest."

"This is it!" Cisco cried out. "Earth 42! That's where Oliver is!"

"Did you see him? Is he okay?" Thea asked quickly.

"Um, yeah!" Cisco said uncertainly. He felt the eyes of the team on him. "He's … uh, he doesn't look hurt, he just looks… upset? I'm sure he's fine," he downplayed quickly.

"Can you get him home?" Felicity demanded, concern twisting her stomach.

Barry turned towards Felicity and said, "Well, now that we know where he is, Caitlyn and Harry ran some calculations on how to open a breach. I can run and get us the power, and Cisco should be able to focus it to pull him out. Could that work, Cisco?"

"We won't know until we try!" Cisco said, trying his best to seem confident, but not liking how much this plan relied on his mostly untested powers.

"Alright!" Barry declared enthusiastically. "Let's bring him home!"

Oliver felt like he could have cried on that floor forever. He was overwhelmed by sorrow – sorrow for his sister, for Tommy, for Laurel. In his mind's eye he could see her. Thea: the snarky, graceful, funny, wise, lively Speedy waiting for him at home. And despite fully understanding why Tommy was planning the Undertaking in revenge, he understood just as strongly that his Thea would never condone Tommy's planned incineration of the city. And in his heart, seeing the letter still gripped in his hands pleading for Tommy to protect the children of Starling, Oliver knew that this world's Thea would not either.

Oliver looked up from the floor to find Tommy similarly positioned on his knees, a hand up to the wall, touching the disparaging articles about Thea.

"Tommy," Oliver managed to get out, voice choked and heavy. Tommy didn't turn around, but Oliver could feel his attention on Oliver's words. "I cannot imagine what you are feeling. On my world … I still have my Thea. I have come close, far too close, to losing her - and when I thought I had, it felt like the grief would kill me." Oliver's voice sounded almost childlike as he said sincerely, "All I have ever wanted for her is to be safe and happy." Tommy's hand slipped off the wall and landed beside his bent knees. Oliver hoped this meant he was listening.

Oliver continued, "I do understand guilt. And grief. My father killed himself on a lifeboat when the Queen's Gambit sank so I could live, and my mother … my mother was ruthlessly murdered because of my past in front of Thea and I. Thea has absolutely suffered because of the life I have chosen." Oliver gave a self-effacing snort. "Knowing how often I have failed her on my world, I am certain that your Oliver would not have protected Thea any better than you were able." Tommy's head began to turn towards Oliver, filling Oliver with hope.

Oliver pushed himself on his knees closer to Tommy, telling Tommy intently, "I was like you. Killing to try to make up for past sins." Tommy turned all the way towards Oliver at his admission. Oliver stated, "On my world, I'm known as the Green Arrow. But while I was killing my way through my list, you … my Tommy … got in my way. My Tommy told me that there was a different way, a way to protect what was good rather than destroying. And then I lost him. My Tommy. And I wish every. day. that he was still with me." Oliver felt his eyes fill again with tears as his heart ached with the loss of his friend as he looked into the eyes that were familiar but not the same.

Oliver stated, "I took a vow in Tommy's name that I would not kill again. He believed in me, that I could be better, and that is how I honor Tommy and his life. By being who he knew I could be, being someone he could be proud of." Oliver stopped to swipe across his eyes at the tears threatening to make tracks down his face.

"Thea died with her last act protecting the very children that the Undertaking will kill." Oliver declared fiercely. "So, you couldn't protect her – I couldn't protect Tommy. But please, Tommy – be someone that Thea would be proud of. Don't avenge Thea. Honor her by protecting the ones that Thea gave her life protecting."

Tommy was shaking his head in denial. "How can I? How can you ask me to let this go? If it were you …"

"It's not about me or you," Oliver broke in, sad but confident. "It's about Thea. It's about who she was and what she would want. And I know my Thea, and I know this Thea from the way she stood up to all this," and Oliver gestured to the documents posted on the walls, "out of a need to protect."

"What else am I to do?" Tommy murmured, earlier rage giving way to deep grief. Oliver took a look at the face of his dearest friend struggling to let go of his vendetta. Oliver gave one more scoot across the floor on his knees and caught Tommy up in a crushing hug. Tommy stiffened up for a moment, then hugged back. "What am I supposed to do?" Tommy whispered as sobs began to shake him.

Oliver sniffled and clung on. "Make her proud, Tommy. God, she loved you. Just make her proud to be your sister."

A figure appeared in the doorway and Oliver glanced up to see a red-eyed Laurel standing there watching. Oliver tugged Tommy to stand up and pulled out of their embrace so Tommy could see his wife. As soon as Tommy saw Laurel, the tears welled up again, his posture broken and ashamed. Laurel crossed the room at a jog and pulled her husband into her arms. "I'm so, so sorry," Tommy choked through tears. "I just-"

"I know," Laurel gently confirmed.

"Oliver?" A voice hollered from the main room with the earthquake machine. Oliver, followed closely by Laurel and Tommy, walked to see the owner of the voice.

Oliver caught a glimpse of an open breach and standing directly in front of it, Barry suited up as the Flash giving Oliver a cheerful wave.

Laurel gave Oliver a small smile and said, "It looks like your way home."

Oliver looked between Tommy and Laurel and said softly, "Are you going to be okay?" Laurel nodded, but Tommy couldn't seem to raise his head or eyes to look at Oliver. Oliver asked, "Tommy?"

This time Tommy met Oliver's gaze. "Yes. I just – thank you." He began to shake his head in denial at what he had almost done. "I don't even know – thank you."

Oliver reached out and pulled Tommy into another hug. Tommy murmured, "When you see her - hold her. Cherish her. Protect her." Oliver nodded into the hug and said with tears in his voice, "I miss you more than anything." Tommy laughed through a sob and said, "I miss you too."

With a last glance at Tommy and Laurel, Oliver stepped through the breach, followed by Barry. The now familiar twisting shook Oliver's world and then dropped him in the middle of the Foundry.

"Oliver!" Felicity cried out. In no more than a second she had wheeled her chair and Oliver was being gripped around his waist by his fiancé. Felicity pulled back and peered up at his face, seeming to notice something in the redness of his eyes or the expression on his face that something was not quite right. "Oliver?" she said more softly. "Are you okay?"

Oliver demurred softly, "I'm fine," as his eyes roamed across the room taking in Barry still at his side, Barry's friend Cisco seated next to Digg, and Laurel with an arm around Thea. Oliver's gaze held on Thea. "All good, Speedy?" he asked gently.

"Yeah, now that you're back!" Thea exclaimed, the relief clear in her voice. "You scared the hell out of us!"

Oliver resisted for no more than a moment before he found his legs moving towards his sister. Reaching her, he scooped her into a hard hug. Thea gave a surprised laugh, saying "Hey!" As Oliver held on, Thea seemed to become confused. "Ollie?" she asked.

Oliver finally released her from the hug, dropping a quick kiss onto her head. "Just happy to be home."