The End Of All Things (An Arrow: Season 8 Fanfiction)

Chapter 10: Mia and William

'Dad? Auntie Evelyn?' Mia asked. Oliver took a step back in shock. 

'Oh, my God. Dad!' William said, coming forward and hugging Oliver. 

'William? William,' Oliver said, at first standing completely still, then wrapping his arms around his son. He turned to me. 

'Hey, bud,' I said, pulling him into a hug, then pulling back to look at him. 'Look at you, all grown up.' Oliver looked at Mia. 

'Mia?' he asked. 'Mia?' he repeated. All she could do was stare at him in shock. 

'Dad!' Connor said, looking at John. 'You - you're so young.' 

'Dad?' John asked in confusion. 'What is this? How did they get here?' 

'I - I don't know. Those are my kids.' 

'Your kids,' Dinah replied, deadpan. 

'Yeah,' I said. 'My favourite niece and nephew. Mia,' I choked out. 'Last time I saw you, God, you were little.' She ran to me and hugged me. 

'I missed you so much,' she sobbed, hugging me. 

'Missed me? Baby, I never left. Hey, shh. It's okay.' I let her sob and eventually, she pulled away. 

'Are - are you okay?' Oliver asked. Mia stepped away.  

'How - how is this real?' she asked. 

'Good question,' Rene replied. 'The last time I checked, you didn't have an adult daughter - or any daughter.' 

'We had a daughter...' Oliver replied brokenly. 'And we named her Mia. Felicity gave birth a few months after we left Star City.' 

'I can attest to that,' I spoke up, 'because I was there when she was born.' 

'How?' Dinah asked. 'I - I didn't even know she was pregnant.' 

'We didn't tell anyone,' Oliver said. 'We wanted to keep her off the grid to protect her.' I looked at Mia. 

'The fewer people that knew, the better.' 

'That was only a few months ago,' Dinah said. Oliver frowned. 

'This was Novu,' he said. 

'You called me Dad,' John said, turning to the other boy. 

'You adopted me,' he replied. 'Remember, it's Connor.' 

'No. No. I - I - I haven't,' he said. 

'He hasn't,' William replied. 'Because he hasn't yet.' 

'Look. What are you talking about?' Connor shot back. 

'I think we're in the past.' 

'That is insane,' Mia replied. 

'Look at this place,' William said. 'And them! No grey hair, no wrinkles, and we are staring at our dad alive instead of at his tombstone. Sorry, what year is this?' 

'Uh, it's - 2019,' Oliver replied.

'Well, what year is it supposed to be?' I asked. William looked at me. 

'2040.' 

Later... 

Dinah, Oliver, John, Rene and I stood away from the three young adults while we conversed in low tones. 

'Wait,' John said. 'So, just an hour ago, I was with Ben Turner's six-year-old child, and now he's an adult, and I'm his father.'