Arrow: Fanfic: Fatherly love

[m_findlow]

Title: Fatherly love
Fandom: Arrow
Characters: Tommy Merlyn, Malcolm Merlyn
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,139 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for fhionnuisce's prompt "Any, any, anger that gets you through a situation" at fic_promptly
Summary: All Tommy really wants is to know his father cares

Tommy had almost been asleep on the sofa in the reception of the embassy. It was a small miracle that he could even find himself relaxing enough to sleep, after everything he'd been through. He worried that if he closed his eyes for a moment, they might come back for him.

Part of him wanted to stay, and the other half wanted to get the hell out of here as fast as he could. It didn't seem to matter to the consulate staff that he was old enough to go wherever he liked on his own. They'd taken one look at his background check and called the US straight away. As if things weren't bad enough, now his dad was flying out to Hong Kong to pick him up.

He'd really thought he might be onto something the moment he'd gotten the alert someone had logged into Oliver's email account. Who, other than him, would have known the password, and why would they bother unless it was him. It was crazy to think that after all this time he might have survived, and that he'd somehow only just made his way to civilisation, but there was always hope. Oliver was a survivor, but that didn't mean he didn't need help.

He should have known his dad would be annoyed that he'd just hopped on a flight and left. He couldn't understand why though. He never cared what he got up to, why was this any different?

He didn't have to wait long before the click of expensive shoes could be heard coming to stand in front of him. He couldn't even be bothered going casual for Tommy's sake, always business first.

'I've had to cancel four meetings and an audience with the Governor. I hope you're happy.'

'I missed you too, Dad.'

'Didn't I tell you this is a waste of time? Or was this just some excuse to come here and party for a few days?'

'I was kidnapped and tortured, Dad! Doesn't that mean anything to you?'

Malcolm gave him that subtle eye roll and the tightening of lips he knew all too well. 'I think you exaggerate the being tortured part,' he said, seeing not so much as a scratch on his son's arms or face. 'You were mugged.'

'I wasn't mugged! They knew I was here looking for Ollie. That's why they grabbed me.'

Malcolm gave him a tired look. 'You're a high profile American citizen, whether you like it or not. You think there aren't a hundred gangs out there that wouldn't like to ransom off some spoilt little kid like you? Be glad the police found you first.' How they had was still a mystery he hadn't puzzled out.

'So, that's the only reason you came? Worried I might cost you something?' Why couldn't his dad be normal and just actually care about him?

'You're my son. One day I like to think maybe you'll grow up and take some responsibility, and that you might inherit everything I've worked so hard to build. One day you might realise that there's more to life than just doing whatever you feel like.'

Tommy stood up, feeling the anger inside him rising. 'I was trying to find a friend.'

'Oliver is dead, Tommy. You need to accept that.'

'I won't. When you care about someone you don't give up on them.'

Malcolm resisted the urge to slap him across the face, the thinly veiled insinuation evident. He had no idea everything he'd done for his family - everything he was still doing. He would have let Tommy find his own way home, but the story from the consulate officer concerned him. He'd been certain no one had survived the sinking of the Gambit. That there were rumors floating around of Oliver Queen troubled him. He had Moira Queen under his thumb just so long as she kept quiet about their involvement in Robert's death. Having her son come back with God only knew what information, could cause her resolve to crumble. What might she confess if she thought she had nothing to lose?

He could see the defiance etched in Tommy's expression, trying a different tact. 'These men who took you, what did they say?'

'Just that Oliver is dead and that I should stop.'

'That's it?' If there was someone telling Tommy to keep his nose out of any search for Oliver Queen, then that made him all the more interested in wanting to know who they were and why they were so insistent.

'Isn't that enough?' Tommy replied. 'Someone knows something, and now they're trying to cover it up and scare us off.' And scare they had.

It was enough, Malcolm agreed. It meant that whoever they were, they hadn't connected Merlyn to the Queen's untimely deaths. If they had, Tommy wouldn't be here now. They'd have used Tommy as leverage to get to him. Perhaps in coming to Hong Kong, he'd already played into their hands.

That his dad didn't even bother to reply only incensed Tommy more. 'You've got all the money in the world, Dad. Why won't you help? Someone out there knows what happened.'

Indeed it seemed they did. He planned on finding out exactly what they knew. The League was well connected in these parts of the world, and his own business interests might play their part as well.

'Oliver's email account,' Tommy began.

'Was hacked by some teenager,' Malcolm said, cutting him off.

'I don't believe it, and neither do you,' Tommy said, challenging his father to agree with him just for once.

'Put your bags in the car,' he instructed. 'I'll sort out things with the consulate.'

'Do you care about me at all? Or is this all just some big inconvenience for you?'

Malcolm fixed him with a firm glare. 'I'm here, aren't I?'

He didn't want to face up to the fact that his father had shown up. It was far more than he usually did, preferring to lecture Tommy from afar, in between meetings on his cell phone. He'd tried to get his dad to show that he cared, but all he ever managed to do was disappoint, so instead he'd made himself a lifestyle of doing just that, in the hopes that maybe it would get him more attention, even if it was the wrong kind. It was easier to be angry with him than to try and understand why his dad treated him with such indifference.

Tommy picked up his bags and stood right there in his father's face. 'Only because the name on my passport says Merlyn. Can't have that family name ruined, can we?'

'You're a Merlyn whether you like it or not. There's nothing I won't do for my family.'

'Keep telling yourself that, Dad,' he said, storming off.