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

Chapter 23: The Last Goodbye

The explosion sounded across the rocky battlefield and ceased soon after. The group is comprised of J'onn J'onzz/Martian Manhunter (the Paragon of Honour), Kate Kane/Batwoman (the Paragon of Courage), Sara Lance/White Canary (the Paragon of Destiny), Barry Allen/Flash (the Paragon of Love), Kara Danvers/Supergirl (the Paragon of Hope), Lex Luthor (the Paragon of Truth) and Ryan Choi (the Paragon of Humanity), as well as Evelyn Queen/Athena, stood on the field, the aftereffects of the resulting shockwave washing over them. 

'Oh, my God!' Kara gasped. 

'Oliver...' Barry said. 

'Barry, get us up there!' I said, turning to him. He grabbed a hold of me and sped us up there to see Oliver laying on the ground, groaning. We knelt on either side of him. 'Oliver,' I said softly. He coughed and groaned again. 

'I - I need you both to watch over my family,' he gasped. 

'Hey, Ollie, they're gonna be fine,' I said with tears coming to my eyes. 'You're gonna be fine.' He looked up at the sky. 

'You did it. You all did - you all did it.' 

'Did what? What did we do?' I asked him. 

'Just look.' We looked up to see a swirling portal.

'Ollie, we saw, but what is it?' 

'It's the new universe,' he said softly. 

'It's kind of small for a universe,' Barry said. 

'Wait for it, Barry. It's almost time. Almost time.' Another booming sound came from the skies. 'There. You did it,' he added, with tears lingering in his eyes. 

'No, Oliver, you did it,' I said, a tear spilling down my cheek. 'It's gonna be okay. That's why you've got to come back with us, so we need you to hang on, okay?' 

'Evelyn, this is just what the Monitor said would happen.' 

'No. I can't - I can't live without you. I can't... I won't accept it. You've cheated death before, Ollie, you can do it again.' He coughed. 

'No.' 

'What?' Barry asked, leaning forward to hear Oliver's next words. 

'There was an end... and there's a beginning.' He looked over at Barry. 'Do you remember what I told you?' 

'Dying is the easy part,' Barry said, his voice thick with unshed tears. 

'I'm at peace. The real heroes...' 

'They're the ones that have to keep going.' He looked at me. 'You too, Evelyn.' I shook my head slowly. 

'Not without you,' I said, a few tears spilling freely onto his suit, but I didn't care. 

'So... keep... going, and don't ever stop. This world, this new world... it needs both of you.' Oliver looked back up at the sky, and a tear slid slowly down his cheek. He closed his eyes. 

'Oliver?' I asked softly. 'Ollie?' I touched his shoulder. Bowing my head onto his chest, I wept. Barry and I both wept. 

'Evelyn...' I heard Barry say. We looked up to see the light swirling within the portal that was to be the birth of the new universe. 

'An end...' I choked out through tears, looking back down at Oliver. 'And a beginning.' I scooted around, and we pulled each other into an embrace. 

'Thank you, Oliver,' Barry said softly.