
Conner stood there in shock as the older man left the room. He'd been wearing Thomas down for months, trying to break through his cynical shell. Now Conner finally had and it was over? It wasn't supposed to work like that! Conner kicked a waste bin over. Being friends was supposed to make their partnership stronger, not destroy it. How was he going to do this job without Thomas? He'd met other members of the morally dubious organization. Conner couldn't work with them! He couldn't trust them.
Conner had to talk Thomas out of it. Especially now that Thomas admitted that they were friends. Conner was more floored by that than by Thomas' abrupt request. Conner sat down at his desk. He didn't know where to start. Conner had access to Thomas' personnel files, though he'd promised Thomas he wouldn't go prying any farther when Thomas learned he'd hacked them. Conner wondered if Thomas' family could help him. Though Thomas only saw them on holidays. The real problem was that in order to make Thomas reconsidered changing partners, Conner would have to convince him that they weren't friends. He didn't want to do that. It was a step back from all he'd be working for. Conner put his face in his hands and tried to think of what to do.
Suddenly it dawned on him. Thomas was worried about taking risks for him. That it would get them killed. All Conner had to do was convince Thomas that being friends was better for their partnership. He had to convince Thomas that caring about each other made them more effective as a team. He had to do it soon.
The question remained... How?