Fire Fightin'

Disclaimer: An idea that had some help being formed thanks to the gang at a Lauriver Discord I recently joined.

Summary: A childhood dream, a friend's death, both being a catalyst for Tommy Merlyn to become a Firefighter. And one man's strong dislike of it.

For Tommy Merlyn, having gained the dream to become a Firefighter at a young age thanks to the efforts of a Firefighter. One who'd brought in a burn victim to his mother's clinic back when she was still alive, had been with him for as long as he could remember. But something had always held him back from chasing after that dream. Whether it was due to the loss of his mother or something else, he never quite could figure out. It wasn't until his best friend, Oliver 'Ollie' Queen, dying in the North China Sea that he finally got a kick in the ass as a catalyst to finally go for what he'd been wanting to do for years. Naturally, there had been some difficulties for the young Merlyn Scion where becoming a Firefighter was concerned. Difficulties such as keeping the media from finding out and letting it be known to the public, his own lack of regular exercise, and Firefighters themselves thinking he wasn't cut out for it.

Even assuming he was just doing this for shits and giggles. But none the less, he prevailed and made it through the 16 weeks of training that the Starling City Fire Department required. Even going so far as to test his luck in asking if he could be transferred to one of the few Units in the Glades since that's where his dream had essentially began. The fact that Malcolm hadn't ever quite cottoned on to what he was doing had been surprising to some but not to Tommy. As he was bitterly heard once saying that the man would only give any attention if he was doing something that would oh so 'regrettably' tarnish his family's good name and the company's image. Wisely, a number of people, fellow Firefighters included, left it alone after that. Tommy also further proved himself to other Firefighters beyond the training by doing his job the absolute best he could. Even occasionally going the distance to the point he nearly ended up in the hospital a time or two.

Miraculously, Tommy would be able to keep his job a secret from those in his life (having to feign an illness at one point to explain why a birthday party wasn't going to happen thanks to being on call that night) until roughly a month after Oliver returned from the dead. And it was all thanks to the media getting him on camera while in action during a fire. Naturally, a number of people who knew him, especially Laurel, Oliver, and Thea, were quite shocked by the profession he worked for and it forced Oliver's mindset about his long time friend to be re-worked. Something he wasn't a huge fan of for that matter at first. Though the fact his father was suspiciously silent on the whole thing worried Tommy somewhat. It didn't help when he was asked to visit the man at the Merlyn Mansion either and was forced to wait until he finished his fence spar session. "Sure you don't have something else you could be doing to make me wait even longer?" Wondered the younger Merlyn in annoyance as he followed his father to his home office.

"Of course not, but you know I'm not one to leave things unfinished."

"How could I forget?" Came the muttered somewhat bitter reply.

Something his father chose to ignore as he had more important things to focus on as he went around his desk to sit in his chair. The older man stared at his son for a long moment and Tommy had to resist the urge to squirm about like a worm. "Do you know why you're here, Thomas?"

"I uhh, I can't say that I do."

Malcolm narrowed his eyes at him, clearly showing he wasn't believing him on that matter. "You're here because of your little… Job." Replied the man as he turned his computer screen around to show a paused piece of footage of Tommy in action.

"Damn news media." Groused Tommy.

Not that he was ashamed of being a Firefighter of course but that he had hoped to keep this kind of thing from those in his life as he wasn't sure they would be all that supportive. So far he had been wrong and had felt some guilt over it but now came the final part with his dad on the whole thing. "How long have you been doing this exactly?"

"Uhh… About five years now."

"Since Oliver's thought to be death then."

"Yeah, pretty much. It was the final catalyst for me deciding to become a Firefighter." Tommy told him honestly.

"I see."

Tommy sighed, easily seeing his father was obviously not happy about what he was doing. "Okay, I can tell you don't like my choice of an occupation so just get it off your chest so we can get this over with."

"You're right, Thomas, I don't care for it at all as you are meant to be working for Merlyn Global. Not risking your life for people you don't even know. Especially in the Glades." Declared the man calmly with a touch of frost in his voice.

Causing his son to stare him in stunned disbelief and even scoffing a few seconds later. "Uhh, dad, I think you forget its entirely my choice to where I decide I work. Much less that its NOT your call on where I'm meant to be. And not knowing those people, especially those of the Glades, doesn't matter. Especially when its not the point of what I do as I'm not there to get to know them but to save them."

Although the kids were kind of a different matter entirely as actually talking to them helped keep their mind off things. If anything, this failed to have any significance for Malcolm. "Thomas, you have 24 hours to quit this foolishness of yours and then come work for me. Is that understood?"

If Tommy wasn't stunned before, he certainly was. "You… You can't be serious! I love my job, dad! And if anything, I thought you'd be happy I was being a responsible adult by having a job!" There really was no pleasing this man!

"I will not lose you to the choice of profession you've foolishly chosen to join, son. I've already lost your mother and I will not lose you either."

"What happened with mom was a completely different situation and so not the same as mine."

Once more, the argument did nothing to sway his father. "24 hours or I will cut you off."

Tommy stared at his dad for a moment, his eyes blinking. "You're… You're serious!?"

"Does my face suggest I am kidding in some form?" Malcolm asked rhetorically and a laugh of disbelief escaped Tommy.

"Then I guess you're just going to have to cut me off, dad. Because I LOVE what I do."

And with that, Tommy made his leave, part of him thinking his dad was just bullshitting with him in order to get what he wanted. Malcolm looked at where his son had been and shook his head. "Wrong choice, son. And if I have too, I'll ensure you lose your job for I will NOT lose you as I did your mother."

Author's Notes: Would Malcolm really go that far? Would the Fire Department actually listen to him? Who knows!