Disclaimer: Arrow is owned by The CW, Berlanti Productions, and Warner Bros. Television. The characters in this story are owned by DC Comics. I own nothing; I'm just playing in their universe.

My name is Tommy Merlyn.

For most of my life, my friend Oliver and I led a life full of alcohol and loose women, living one party to the next. For him, it was because he could. For me, it was to thumb my nose at a father who was never there; and to ignore the pain of the loss of my mother.

But now I know the truth.

Now I know that my father left me to become a cold-blooded killer. That he spent nearly two decades working with others to engineer the destruction of the Glades to avenge the death of my mother.

That he engineered the sinking of the Queen's Gambit, which led to my best friend be sentenced to five years in hell.

Soon though, he will be returning with a mission to save our city. And I intend to help him. But to do that, I can't be the spoiled party boy I've been for the past 20 years. To help my friend, and to save our city, I must become someone else.

I must become something else…

PRESENT

When Tommy was returned to his time, he found himself in exactly the same place he had been when he was taken- sitting in his car. In fact, as the reality of the situation came crashing down on him, he continued to sit there long after the light turned green. It took a cop blasting his siren to jolt Tommy back mentally to the present. He gave a quick wave in his mirror to the cop and quickly pulled into the first shopping center he could find. The cop moved on, but Tommy turned his car off and sat back heavily in his seat, lost in thought.

After sitting in the parking lot, he had started his car again and began to drive around aimlessly. Finally, though, Tommy returned to his apartment a few hours later. He tossed his keys on the end table, and then just stood there looking around. He had lived in this apartment for over six years, but as he looked around, he saw nothing of himself here. No personal touches, no mementos, no family heirlooms. The most personal thing he kept in his apartment was a picture of his mother that sat next to his couch. Collapsing onto the couch, he gently picked up the picture and considered his mother, as well as his life.

Tuesday

It was with a renewed sense of purpose that Tommy found himself walking through the lobby of Merlyn Global Group Tuesday afternoon. He rode the executive elevator to the 39th floor where his father's business office was, and smiled as he exited the elevator and saw his father's longtime assistant.

"Well Tommy Merlyn, as I live and breathe." Gloria Haverschmidt said.

"Hey Mrs. Haverschmidt." Tommy said, embracing the woman with a warm hug. She was the one who had bought almost all of his birthday and Christmas gifts over the past two decades, as well as having picked him up every time he had acted out in school. "You look as beautiful as ever."

"Flatterer." Gloria admonished happily. "What brings you by today? Not another scandal I hope."

Tommy gave a self-deprecating chuckle. "No, I'm trying to leave that behind me now."

"Well, good."

"Actually, I was hoping to talk to my father, if he's free?" he asked.

"He's in a meeting right now, but he should be free in a few minutes." She said.

"I can wait." he assured her. They chatted for a few minutes until the door finally opened.

"Then until Thursday." Malcolm smiled at the man as he left the office, but his smile widened as Tommy appeared at the door. "Tommy! To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Tommy smiled warily at his father. "Actually, I'm here to talk to you about a job." He said, looking back at the man who was leaving. "Who was that? He looks familiar…."

"Some business I planned to tell everyone about on Friday." He replied, leading him into the office. "So, a job?"

"I've been thinking," Tommy began, pacing aimlessly around the office. "About the kind of man I am, about the kind of man I want to be. I saw that me, in those memories…" he smiled. "I liked that Tommy. That's the kind of person I could be proud of… the kind of person I want to be. It's time I stopped being the party boy, and high time I started taking some responsibility in my life. So I guess what I'm saying is, I want a job."

Malcolm smiled and embraced his son. "There will always be a place for you here, Tommy. Come, I want to show you something." He led Tommy towards the table.

"What's that?" he asked warily.

"My new undertaking." Malcolm replied. "One your mother would be proud of."

Tommy spent the day with his father, learning about his new plan and finding his place in the company. By nightfall, he made a quick stop before heading over to Laurel's apartment to have an overdue discussion. He paused outside her door, trying to order his thoughts when suddenly another person walked up next to him and knocked on the door. He turned and looked incredulously at the pizza delivery man just as Laurel opened the door.

"Technically I did get here like 10 seconds before this guy." Tommy joked.

Laurel smiled, then handed the delivery boy a wad of cash. "Keep the change." She said, taking the box from him. The boy left, and Tommy walked in after Laurel. "So, Tommy, what brings you by so late?" she asked.

"Well, I assumed, rightly, that you would be at home working tonight," he started, "And I also assumed that you might be hungry." He noted the box. "Also rightly."

"I don't know." Laurel held up the box. "This is a mushroom and olive pizza from Mario's."

Tommy made a show of wincing. "That is damn good pie."

Laurel put the box down on the table. "All right, what do you have to offer?"

Tommy held up the brown bag. "Spicy tuna on crispy rice from Toro's."

Laurel's eyes narrowed. "Ohh. Damn you, Merlyn." She grabbed the bag. She headed to get some plates, then turned and looked at Tommy. "I hope Sushi was all you had in mind."

"So do I, because there are things my young eyes don't need to see." Thea joked from the sofa.

"Oh." Tommy said in surprise. "What…."

"I was just working something out with Laurel." Thea said. "And now I'm leaving before you two start your sexy fun time."

"There will be no sexy fun time." Laurel protested.

"Well, let's not be hasty…" Tommy interjected.

"I'm gone." Thea said, hugging Laurel and then giving Tommy a kiss on the cheek. "Have fun!" she said, walking out the door.

"It's fun having a little sister, isn't it?" Laurel asked dryly.

"Oh, yeah." Tommy agreed, laughing lightly. Laurel joined him in the laughter.

"So," she began. "I expected you to call a few days ago."

"I needed to get my head into the right place."

"Out of your ass?" she joked.

Tommy chuckled. "That sound about right. Actually, I was thinking about my life. You know, I looked around my apartment, and the only personal thing I found in it was a picture of my mother?" he started. "I've been living my life in a sort of fugue state, I think. Living from one party to the next; one girl to the next. And looking around my apartment, I realized it was an apt description of my life- empty. And that's not the kind of life I want anymore."

"What kind of life do you want?" she asked.

"I want to be the Tommy we saw in those memories." He stated. "The kind of man who takes responsibility, who has initiative. Who actually DOES something, instead of letting things happen around him." He took her hands. "The kind of man who would be worthy of you."

Laurel smiled. "All you ever had to do to be worthy of me was grow up a little." She told him.

"I talked to my father today, got a job at Merlyn Global. He's got big plans now." Tommy said.

"Please tell me those plans don't involve earthquakes or archers."

Timmy laughed. "That's kind of why I went there. I figured if I got a job working with him, I could keep an eye on him. And no," he assured her, "There are not earthquakes or archers involved. At least, not until Ollie gets back. He promised me he'll explain everything to everyone at the meeting on Friday."

"Well, I'm glad you'll be able to keep an eye on him." Laurel admitted. "And I'm proud that you're growing up."

"Yeah? How proud?" he asked with a smile, leaning in for a kiss…

"Nope! Not looking!" The two broke apart to see Thea walking back into the apartment, one hand covering her eyes. She staggered towards the dining room table, groping in the air dramatically. "I don't want to see any of this."

"Then why did you come back?" Tommy asked. "And by the way, nothing is going on."

Thea removed her hand from her face, then picked her purse up from the table. "Forgot my purse." She explained. "Okay, I'm really leaving now." She assured them. "Don't do anything I haven't done already!"

"I hope that's everything!" Tommy shouted to Thea's laughing back as she ran back out of the apartment. Tommy and Laurel looked at one another, and then burst into laughter themselves.

"So, are we really gonna try this?" Laurel asked Tommy after a moment.

"Do, or do not. There is no try." He replied.

Laurel shook her head. "Seriously, how did I NOT know you were a closet dork?"

He laughed as he led her into the dining room, before heading into the kitchen for plates for their first dinner together.

To Be Continued