AO3 Stories

Olivarry: On a Monday

FANDOM: The Arrow/The Flash

PAIRING: Oliver Queen/Barry Allen

Warning: major character death (sorry)

A/N: not connected to the last ones in any way

Barry Allen died on a Monday.

His boyfriend found out on Tuesday when Barry didn't show up for their date the night before. This wasn't unusual, such is the life of Central City's superhero. But what was unusual is the fact that he never called.

But Caitlin does.

"How are you doing, Oliver?" She asks once he answers the phone, voice soft.

He quirks an eyebrow despite her not being able to see him. "I'm okay, why?"

"Oh my god, did no one tell you?" Caitlin's voice broke.

"Told me what? What's wrong?" Oliver's frantic, already shrugging on a jacket and picking up his keys, "Is Barry alright?"

"Ollie..." Caitlin whispers, and it's not the unshed tears he can hear thickening her voice that gives him pause, it's the nickname. Barry and Felicity are the only ones outside his family who call him that.

He sinks down onto a chair, tears pricking behind his eyes. "No, no, he can't be. He's fine, right? Broken arm, broken leg, what?" He's frantic now, not trusting himself to stand without collapsing.

"Barry, he went into a collapsing high rise. We told him it was too unstable to handle his speeds, but there was a daycare for the worker's kids on the top level..." A breath hisses through Oliver's teeth and he shakily lets it out. He knows what's coming. He always told Barry that his selflessness would be the death of him. Caitlin is still speaking, "It was all so fast. One second, the building was there and Barry was outside with the last kid. The next moment, the building was gone, and Barry was inside. He's gone. Oliver, I'm so sorry." She chokes, a muffled sob coming through the phone.

"So...Barry is...he's dead?" Oliver whispers, trying so hard to not let Caitlin hear his weakness.

"Yes, I'm sorry, I thought someone told you. I'll call Felicity." And she had hung up before he could tell her not to. That he was fine. That his boyfriend of over a year was dead and he felt empty but he was fine, really. He doesn't know how long he sat in that hard wooden chair, tense and empty. But there was a knock on the door, soft and hesitant, and Oliver knew it was Felicity. She opens the door without waiting for him to open it and glances around. She spots him on the chair.

"Oh, Ollie." She breathes, crouching in front of him, pressing a hand to his cheek, her eyes rimmed red. He doesn't realize he'd been crying until she pulls her hand away and it's wet. "I'm so sorry, I thought you had seen on the news and that's why you hadn't come in."

"Felicity, I....he..." He can't get the words out, the realization finally hitting him that Barry isn't about to appear on the couch, bag of Chinese food in hand and windblown hair.

"Shh, I know, I know. It'll be okay." Felicity leans into him, wrapping her arms around him. And he crumples in a way he hasn't let himself do since his first few days on the island. He'll never come home to hear Barry in the kitchen, humming away to whatever pop song is on the radio. Barry will never ramble to Oliver about the latest happenings at S.T.A.R. Labs or the newest metahuman or even the really cool tire track he dealt with that "kind of looked like lightning bolts how awesome is that!".

****************

Barry Allen was buried on a Friday and Oliver was asked to speak. He wrote something one night, through tears and heartbreak, yearning for his boyfriend to come pull him away like he used to whenever Oliver got frustrated with his work. But in the end, he couldn't read it. Felicity spoke for him.

She took a deep breath and gazed out into the crowd, eyes skimming over the hundreds of people crying for the boy. "Barry was one of my best friends. He was the type of person who lit up a room, just by smiling. He could keep up with my scientific jargon and translate for everyone else in the room. He was loved by everyone he met and he loved them as well. His boyfriend, Oliver, asked me to read what he had prepared." Felicity speaks with confidence, but her hands shake as she pulled out Oliver's speech.

"Barry was extraordinary. Not because he had supernatural powers, but because he had the power to make everything better. Any pain was instantly lessened by his presence. And with him gone, we are all feeling that pain that he eased. We are feeling the pain he is no longer around to sooth.

Barry was not just my boyfriend. He was, is, my soulmate. He was the person I was going to spend my life with, who I wanted to wake up with. He wasn't just some fling. He made me a better person and helped me to heal. I was going to propose, Monday." At this, Felicity looks over at Oliver in disbelief, who gazes blankly a the closed casket, holding his love.

She takes a deep breath before continuing. "He made the world a brighter place. He touched the lives of thousands, saved hundreds. He died loved and he died a hero. He should not have died at all, but at least he died how he wanted, doing what he loved, saving people. And while I will most likely never fully forgive him for knowingly risking and giving his life by going into that building, I know that he saved people who would have died without him. And if he had stayed out, he never would've forgiven himself either. So while I will always miss him, I know he did what was right for everyone. I just wish it had been right for him too. I love you, Barry. Sleep well."

Once everyone had filed past the casket to pay their respects, Oliver knelt in front of it, placing a small box on the lid and said "I love you, and I know you love me. You would've said yes. Maybe guys like us don't get the girl. But we both got the guy, got each other, instead."

----

And somewhere, Bary smiled, watching with tears running down his face.

"Yes."