Your Time Is Up, Your Reign Is Through
Title: Your Time Is Up, Your Reign Is Through
Fandom: Arrow
Characters: Diggle, Oliver, Lance. Mentions of Laurel and Felicity.
Rating: PG
Warnings: Mentions of the death in 4x18.
Summary: Diggle can't forgive himself for trusting Andy.
He’d made himself get out of bed, got himself dressed, even made his way to the church. But as the mourners all made their way inside, Dig thought he wouldn’t be attending the funeral, so he remained in his car, Lyla by his side. How could he face Quentin Lance, who had already mourned one daughter twice and was now burying another, knowing that Lance hadn’t made it to the hospital in time to see Laurel before she died? And how could he face Oliver, knowing that Oliver had been right all along about Andy? If Dig had just listened to Oliver when he tried to tell him the truth, instead of blindly trusting Andy purely because he was his brother, would Laurel still be alive today?
Dig didn’t know. But he knew it was possible, and that was something he couldn’t live with. Laurel’s blood was on his hands just as much as it was on Andy’s, Merlyn’s and Darhk’s.
Oliver was the one who persuaded him out of the car. He reminded Dig of how he hadn’t attended Moira’s funeral and Dig and Felicity had had to represent him, and how much he now regretted that. He didn’t blame Dig at all, none of them did, his brother’s actions were not his own. Andy was the brother he had believed dead for so long, and now there he was with the chance to have him back, to rebuild his relationship with him. Of course Dig wanted to believe the best of him, Oliver understood, and he knew Laurel would have understood too. Laurel was the one who had still believed that Sara could be saved after the Lazarus Pit, the one who had never given up on her. If anyone would have understood where Dig was coming from, it would have been Laurel.
“Sara,” Dig had said. “She doesn’t even know yet. And since we don’t even know when she is, let alone where, we can’t even tell her.”
“That’s not on you, Dig,” Oliver had replied. “Leave it with me. I’ll keep on trying, and so will her father.”
Dig had had no choice but to accept that, and had followed Oliver into the church, had struggled to meet the eyes of Quentin Lance as he shook his hand even though Lance also said he didn’t blame Dig in any way.
He remembered when he was planning his wedding to Lyla, and had asked Oliver to be his best man. At the time, Dig had wondered to himself whether if Andy had been around at the time, whether he would have been asked instead, and he felt guilty as he’d had to admit to himself that given the choice back then, Oliver would still have won. Because it was true what he’d said in a moment of anger at the time he found out Andy’s death had been faked; Oliver had been more of a brother to him than Andy really was. Dig had tried to suppress those thoughts at the time. The childhood squabbles they had, well, every siblings had those. And the fact that Andy had gone after Carly when John had been the one to see her first - well, once he’d seen how happy they appeared to be together, he’d known he had to step aside. But for Andy to have carried on with his drug dealing and lied to him about it, to have allowed his entire family to have believed him dead for so long? He had so nearly not forgiven that, but his friends and family had persuaded him that it was the right thing to do, and against his better judgement he had allowed Andy back into his life. He’d opened up his home to him, allowed Andy to be in the same house as his wife and baby, trusted him with them, and this whole time he was secretly still in league with Darhk?
Oliver could tell him all he liked that he shouldn’t blame himself, but this one was on him.
He struggled to maintain his composure throughout the funeral service, knowing that someone had to pay. He couldn’t say how he would react if he ever saw Andy again, whether he would be the one to take him down, or whether the fact that he was his brother would cloud his judgement again. But he did know one thing: he was going to hunt down Darhk and Merlyn, and do whatever it took to bring the pair of them down. As he grabbed hold of Darhk’s wife, hustled her into the car, one thought was in his head.
Laurel, this is for you.
Fandom: Arrow
Characters: Diggle, Oliver, Lance. Mentions of Laurel and Felicity.
Rating: PG
Warnings: Mentions of the death in 4x18.
Summary: Diggle can't forgive himself for trusting Andy.
He’d made himself get out of bed, got himself dressed, even made his way to the church. But as the mourners all made their way inside, Dig thought he wouldn’t be attending the funeral, so he remained in his car, Lyla by his side. How could he face Quentin Lance, who had already mourned one daughter twice and was now burying another, knowing that Lance hadn’t made it to the hospital in time to see Laurel before she died? And how could he face Oliver, knowing that Oliver had been right all along about Andy? If Dig had just listened to Oliver when he tried to tell him the truth, instead of blindly trusting Andy purely because he was his brother, would Laurel still be alive today?
Dig didn’t know. But he knew it was possible, and that was something he couldn’t live with. Laurel’s blood was on his hands just as much as it was on Andy’s, Merlyn’s and Darhk’s.
Oliver was the one who persuaded him out of the car. He reminded Dig of how he hadn’t attended Moira’s funeral and Dig and Felicity had had to represent him, and how much he now regretted that. He didn’t blame Dig at all, none of them did, his brother’s actions were not his own. Andy was the brother he had believed dead for so long, and now there he was with the chance to have him back, to rebuild his relationship with him. Of course Dig wanted to believe the best of him, Oliver understood, and he knew Laurel would have understood too. Laurel was the one who had still believed that Sara could be saved after the Lazarus Pit, the one who had never given up on her. If anyone would have understood where Dig was coming from, it would have been Laurel.
“Sara,” Dig had said. “She doesn’t even know yet. And since we don’t even know when she is, let alone where, we can’t even tell her.”
“That’s not on you, Dig,” Oliver had replied. “Leave it with me. I’ll keep on trying, and so will her father.”
Dig had had no choice but to accept that, and had followed Oliver into the church, had struggled to meet the eyes of Quentin Lance as he shook his hand even though Lance also said he didn’t blame Dig in any way.
He remembered when he was planning his wedding to Lyla, and had asked Oliver to be his best man. At the time, Dig had wondered to himself whether if Andy had been around at the time, whether he would have been asked instead, and he felt guilty as he’d had to admit to himself that given the choice back then, Oliver would still have won. Because it was true what he’d said in a moment of anger at the time he found out Andy’s death had been faked; Oliver had been more of a brother to him than Andy really was. Dig had tried to suppress those thoughts at the time. The childhood squabbles they had, well, every siblings had those. And the fact that Andy had gone after Carly when John had been the one to see her first - well, once he’d seen how happy they appeared to be together, he’d known he had to step aside. But for Andy to have carried on with his drug dealing and lied to him about it, to have allowed his entire family to have believed him dead for so long? He had so nearly not forgiven that, but his friends and family had persuaded him that it was the right thing to do, and against his better judgement he had allowed Andy back into his life. He’d opened up his home to him, allowed Andy to be in the same house as his wife and baby, trusted him with them, and this whole time he was secretly still in league with Darhk?
Oliver could tell him all he liked that he shouldn’t blame himself, but this one was on him.
He struggled to maintain his composure throughout the funeral service, knowing that someone had to pay. He couldn’t say how he would react if he ever saw Andy again, whether he would be the one to take him down, or whether the fact that he was his brother would cloud his judgement again. But he did know one thing: he was going to hunt down Darhk and Merlyn, and do whatever it took to bring the pair of them down. As he grabbed hold of Darhk’s wife, hustled her into the car, one thought was in his head.
Laurel, this is for you.