Paging Dr. Merlyn
Disclaimer: I own nothing and completely blame Tumblr for inspiring this.
Summary: We all know of Tommy Merlyn the Playboy, but what about Tommy Merlyn the Doctor?
A little known secret about Tommy Merlyn is that early on in life the idea of becoming a doctor had gained some massive appeal for him after a doctor had helped him out of a tough situation involving a car accident he'd gotten into thanks to a dog and some ice when he was thirteen and saved the life of his drver in the process. After that, he talked the man into becoming a protege of his so that he could learn from him and never telling anyone else about it as he didn't quite think anyone would really take him seriously over it. Among those being his father Malcolm Merlyn. His teacher would also become something of a father to Tommy as well much like Robert Queen had become to him over the years. Though the man and Tommy never quite discussed it as it was more of an unspoken thing between the two of them. His occasional lack of interest in partying and sleeping around with girls would confuse his best friend Oliver 'Ollie' Queen at times but he never bothered him much on it. By the time college rolled around, Tommy had gotten a pretty good idea of where he wanted to go to better learn the way of the doctor life.
His decision took him to the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland as it was one of the best schools to attend for him. While he studied hard, his best friend Ollie never did take the college life seriously and had even nearly gotten him into trouble a time or two that led to a serious talk about what Tommy wanted to do in life. Ollie had been baffled by it as he never knew but thankfully got what his best friend and brother in all but blood was looking to do with his life and promised to keep it to himself. Unfortunately however, during the third year of his time at the University, Tommy's father found out what he was doing and as he feared, the man had definitely not been impressed with it as he felt he should be learning about business and the like and promptly cut him off from any access to the Merlyn accounts until he came to his senses. That had forced him to get two jobs to make ends meet and it had taught him a lot and made him more stubborn than ever to prove his dad wrong about his views.
The friends he made in his classes also helped him out considerably as well with the living situation too. And when Robert Queen eventually found out thanks to Oliver and offered his second son some financial help, Tommy thanked him but turned the offer down in the end. Robert had been surprised but proud of the young man for wanting to go that route. Tragedy would strike in 2007 however when Robert Queen, Oliver Queen, Sara Lance, and the crew of the Queen's Gambit died in the North China Sea. Tommy would make the decision to transfer to a medical school back in Starling so that he could be there for Moira and Thea, along with Laurel while he studied. They along with his mentor would be in attendance when he graduated as one of the medical students at the top of their class. His mentor, who Moira was surprised to learn was none other then the doctor the Queen family saw for nearly anything known as Dr. Lamb would help him get a position at Starling General to gain more knowledge in the medical field via real situations.
2009 would see the good Dr. Merlyn going to Hong Kong using Queen funds since Malcolm still refused to give him back access, but ultimately the trip would turn out to be a bust thanks to his kidnapping by those looking to lure unsuspecting people into their trap. 2010 would see Tommy taking over the clinic his mother used to run thanks to help from Moira Queen and Walter Steele. Needless to say Malcolm had been absolutely furious about it but could do nothing in the end as Tommy now effectively owned half of it while Walter owned the other half. Tommy would surprise everyone by effectively making the clinic a no pay zone for residents of the Glades so that they could be able to get the help they needed without having to pay a lot. Moira would even set up an account that the clinic could use to stay open that only Tommy would have access too.
Tommy's more mature path would help to keep Thea from going down the destructive path she was starting to go in as he knew Oliver would have wanted him to do. Laurel would also come to slowly fall for the good doctor as well due to how he had been there for her when she needed someone. Something he'd been a little worried about considering her past with his best friend despite his own feelings for until both Laurel and Thea talked with him about the situation. 2012 would prove to be an interesting year when the long thought to be dead Oliver Queen returned home alive and well to some extent. There would be many ups and downs after Oliver's return and Tommy would wind up even becoming the team's doctor as well once Oliver finally got him to give him a chance to talk about his vigilante activities.
The doctor would wind up learning of his best friend's activities when Diggle approached him after Oliver had gotten shot. "What!? Why isn't he at the hospital!?" He demanded to know but the bodyguard said he didn't want to have to ask questions he couldn't answer, something that confused Tommy greatly.
"We've done what we can for him, but its clear a second opinion is needed just in case." Diggle informed him as they drove to the Foundry and knowing that once Oliver woke up he would definitely NOT be happy about the other man knowing his secret.
Despite it having been his idea to begin with, Diggle could only hope and pray that going with it wouldn't turn out to be a bad thing. Once arriving at the Foundry, a place Tommy knew Ollie was intending to turn into a nightclub, the good doctor grew even more confused over the situation until they got to the basement where things would forever change for him. Plus the sight of a blonde girl setting up computer equipment had only added to the confusion due to how bizarre the whole damn thing was. Seeing the equipment the vigilante known as the Hood used shocked the Hell out of Tommy as he realized just who exactly the Hood was. "Jesus Christ Ollie..." He muttered as he got to work in ensuring his best friend would survive the night and intending to have one HELL of a conversation with the man once he woke up.
Author's Notes: Writing about Tommy was actually kind of a nice thing to try and do. I plan to re-visit this soon in a future update at some point. R and R!