Father and Son

Lately, Tommy had been feeling miserable, taking crowded buses and subways due to financial constraints. He didn't dare to go out with friends like before and would pretend to be sick when invited, but he heard that his allowance would be restored soon, and he immediately perked up. For the first time, he even brought a glass of water for his father and sat down obediently, indicating that his father could speak now.

Seeing his son's eager expression, Malcolm immediately understood his intentions and almost choked on his breath, but he steadied himself before speaking softly, "What would you do if you were kidnapped? Have you ever thought about that?"

"Kidnapped? Don't we have bodyguards? You haven't been neglecting their pay, have you?" Tommy found his father's question strange.

This is the difference! Malcolm thought. Although Thea tended to overthink things, bordering on paranoia in his eyes, it was always good to be cautious. "When you're with Laurel, you don't want bodyguards following you around twenty-four hours a day, do you?"

Of course not, who would want bodyguards watching while they're engaging in recreational activities? Tommy pondered for a moment. He wasn't dumb; in fact, he was quite smart. He knew there was more to his father's words and asked, biting his lip,"What are you trying to say?"

"You need to be able to protect yourself, anytime, anywhere!"

"Are you saying I should carry weapons with me?" Tommy thought he understood his father's meaning.

"No, you need to undergo training!" Malcolm said solemnly, shaking his head.

"Haha."Tommy chuckled at first, but seeing Malcolm's serious expression, he sobered up. "You're not joking, are you? You want me to undergo combat training? Like a special forces soldier?"

Malcolm didn't answer his question directly. With minimal communication between them before, just a few sentences today allowed him to analyze his son's current psychological state and understand his weaknesses. "You also want to be able to protect Laurel in case of a crisis, don't you?"

Tommy immediately nodded. Wasn't that obvious? What man wouldn't want to protect his woman?

"You don't need to go to the company tomorrow. I'll train you myself to give you the strength to protect your woman." Malcolm had spent over half a year with Thea and heard many of her complaints inadvertently. Through this, he gained some understanding of her desire to protect others.

Tommy was initially delighted to hear the first sentence, knowing he wouldn't have to suffer at the company. But as the second and third sentences connected, he felt a sense of duty wash over him. He was determined to protect Laurel.

It took a few seconds for him to realize the meaning of the second sentence. "You'll train me? Do you have the ability to do that?" Tommy glanced at his father skeptically. Wasn't he just a businessman? He seemed like an ordinary person to him.

With considerable teaching experience gained from instructing Thea, Malcolm knew this wasn't the time for banter. He adopted the teaching model he used with Thea and handed Tommy a bag of tennis balls. "Throw them up in the air and watch me."

However, the first lesson didn't go smoothly. Tommy wasn't fully focused, still pondering whether his father knew martial arts. While he threw the tennis balls correctly, he ended up throwing the entire bag.

Seeing tennis balls flying everywhere, Malcolm was on the verge of collapse. He could only continue instructing, "Pick them up! Throw them one by one!"

The following lessons progressed more smoothly. Tommy was amazed by Malcolm's excellent shooting skills. But when Malcolm asked if he wanted to learn, Tommy asked a question he had been too afraid to ask Oliver during his time on the deserted island, "Why not use a handgun?"

At that moment, Malcolm understood how Yao Fei had felt initially. Why was he so clueless? His daughter didn't ask so many unnecessary questions!

Malcolm wanted to explain that handguns were ineffective for him, but he wasn't like Thea. His own perception was lacking, and coupled with his age, a handgun at close range could still be lethal to him. He could only quote Ra's al Ghul's teachings, "The gun is a tool of the weak."

But as soon as he said it, he regretted it. He was better off not saying anything. Judging by Tommy's expression, he clearly didn't understand the meaning behind the words. Malcolm could only awkwardly explain, "Through my training, you'll be able to effectively dodge bullets or make evasive movements when the gunman raises their weapon."

Tommy looked at him as if he were hearing a fairy tale. "And can you do that?"

Malcolm didn't know what else to say at this point, so he could only grit his teeth and insist that he could do it! He could! Meanwhile, he couldn't help but wonder what he would do if Tommy asked him to demonstrate. Should he pretend to be injured and claim that he couldn't perform at his usual level?

Fortunately, Tommy, while curious, hadn't lost all sense of decency and didn't ask his father to demonstrate it. He nodded, "Alright, I'll trust you for now. How will we train? Where?"

Malcolm thought about it and decided to stick with the usual routine. The classroom in the small forest was still indispensable. He returned to his role as a teacher, albeit with only one student each time. Since there was still time, he dragged Tommy into the dense forest. The place was still the same, the smell was still familiar, but the people were not entirely the same as before.

Next, Malcolm, who considered himself to have some teaching experience, simply replicated the same methods he used to teach Thea.But five minutes later, he regretted it. Tommy's intellect was fine, and his thinking was sharp, but his physical aptitude was seriously lacking. To put it bluntly, he had no talent, just an ordinary person!

With almost no talent, and years of indulgence in nightlife and revelry, let alone perception, Tommy's physical abilities were severely lacking. If Malcolm's aptitude were the center, Thea would be ten miles ahead, and Tommy would be ten miles behind. They were both his children, but why was there such a big difference in their qualities?!

Throughout the entire night, Malcolm patiently guided Tommy to shoot at the ten-meter target. If he remembered correctly, when he taught Thea, she hit the target with one arrow and moved on to the next lesson. Although Malcolm himself took three days during his training in Nanda Parbat, he was already middle-aged at the time. Tommy, on the other hand, was barely twenty!

Fortunately, Tommy had a stubborn streak in him. If he couldn't do something well, he would try his best to improve. This allowed Malcolm to gain a better understanding of his son.

As the father-son teaching progressed, their relationship began to thaw a little. Tommy was no longer as resistant as before, and Malcolm sat on the ground, quietly undoing the bandage around his ribs. He was bleeding again. Just then, as Tommy turned around to say something, he saw his father's abdomen covered in blood and was greatly alarmed. "What happened to you? Is it serious?"

Seeing his son's concern, Malcolm felt that the injury was worth it, but he couldn't tell Tommy that it was his sister who had caused it. That explanation would be endless.

After some thought, he made up a lie. "There's a rising underground force in Starling City that I've been investigating. I got injured during my investigation."

Tommy had no idea that his father's supposed underground force was actually himself. He only thought that his father suddenly pulling him out for combat training tonight made perfect sense.His father was investigating something in secret and was discovered. Worried about implicating him, Malcolm wanted Tommy to train. So, in Tommy's eyes, his father was a silent and unknown hero!

Tommy responded solemnly, "Don't worry, Dad. I'll be careful, and I'll definitely find the culprit who harmed you!"