A(n Awkward) Conversation…or Two…
"Tommy…"
He grimaces at Felicity's nervous, unasked question. "Can we just forget about what happened? Please?" He's embarrassed enough about the comments and the shower. It's just a silly crush. He knows that. He shouldn't have said something like that about fantasies.
Felicity laughs. "I was going to say the same thing, so it's forgotten. Bagel?"
"No three course breakfast for your guest?" He teases as he grabs the cream cheese from the counter.
She snorts. "You don't want to eat anything I bake, trust me. If I didn't burn it, it would be inedible. That's one of the few things I inherited from my mother."
Connor grins. "Please, this is more than I usually get for breakfast. I live on what I can grab between shifts and coffee. I'm a surgical resident. I sleep on cots in hospital hallways. I live in a part of the world where I deal with terrorist attacks and patients who want stitches so small that they won't have visible scars."
"Seems a bit contradictory."
"Tell me about it. But they've got some great food. Plus, my Arabic is getting pretty good. My accent is still pretty terrible, but I can communicate." He's proud of that much.
"Look at you, Mr. World Citizen." Felicity teases, handing him a mug of coffee before she starts sipping her own. "Arabic, Spanish, any other languages I need to know about?"
"Nope. That's it. I've picked up a couple phrases in a handful of different languages. Some French. Russian. Some Chinese. Japanese, but that was from watching Anime when I was younger."
His words have the desired effect as Felicity giggles, the rest of the awkward tension dissipates. "And has that helped you at all?"
"Sure! I can mutter under my breath and call people idiots. What about you? Any other languages?"
"Spoken language or are you counting coding? Because I know a couple of those."
"There's more than one?"
Felicity stares at him, scandalized. "And to think I called you a friend!"
Connor laughs. "That's like me expecting you to know the different kinds of stitches."
She purses her lips, reluctant to admit he has a point, which only has him laughing again.
"You're ridiculous, you know that, right?"
"I'm not the secret doctor."
"No, just the city's hidden hero."
Her objection is quick and cold. "I'm not a hero."
Connor shakes his head with a small smile. "Felicity, anyone who does what you do every night is a hero. You might work more than I do, and I work 100 hours a week."
"Oliver and Digg are the real heroes. And Sara. And you. You save lives too, Doctor Merlyn."
He shakes his head. "It's Rhodes, and yeah, we're pretty heroic, aren't we?"
Felicity grins at him. "And we don't even play dress up in fancy leather."
"But we'd look hella fine in it," he says, holding his mug up in a toast.
Felicity clinks their mugs together. "Damn right. My ass looks fantastic in leather."
Connor raises his eyebrows over his mug. Sure, he thought the same thing, but he wasn't about to say it out loud.
"Please," Felicity says offhandedly with a roll of her eyes. "I work hard for this ass. I know how to appreciate it. I might not have abs of steel or arms as big as a tree trunk, but my legs and my ass are drool-worthy."
"Fantasy worthy," Connor corrects without thinking. He winces at the stunned silence. "And we should pretend that doesn't happen again."
"At least someone other than me appreciates it," Felicity responds, but her smile is more forced than it was a minute ago.
Connor grimaces. He used to have moves. He used to not get flustered around other women. It's this thing with Laurel that's getting inside his head. He's finally ready to move on, but that doesn't mean he's going to jump into bed with the first available woman, especially one of his best friends.
Despite her protestations, he knows there's something between her and Oliver. He's not going to jump right between that, with all the complications it presents.
"How is everything? Oliver sounded…tense."
Felicity scowls. "I don't want to talk about Oliver."
"He cares about you. Whatever happened freaked him out." Connor scratches below his ear. He's had enough time to think over Oliver's case in the past year. "After losing me last year, he's got to be paranoid about the safety of those he cares about."
Her glare takes a couple years off his life. "I don't see him trying to protect Digg or Sara. Or even Thea. I might not be able to fight like they can, but I refuse to be the weak link."
"Oliver doesn't view you as the weak link, he sees you as his weakest link." Connor purses his lips. "You are the person he's most scared of losing. You might want to cut him a little slack."
"I said, I didn't want to talk about Oliver."
"You did. I just figured I'd give you my insight into my best friend's psyche."
Felicity quietly sips her coffee, her brightly colored nails tapping out a rhythm on the side of the mug. "He's sleeping with Sara…or they're dating or whatever."
"It's not going to last." Connor shakes his head. "Oliver's a stubborn idiot already suppressing his feelings so I wouldn't hold your breath, but he cares. More than he thinks he should. Like I said: an idiot."
She doesn't believe him. He can see that in her eyes, but they both drop the subject and finish their coffee in silence.
…
"So this threat is bad, huh?"
Digg glances sideways as Connor slides into the passenger seat of his car. He turns back up to the house. "Worse. Oliver hasn't said much, but going down the rabbit hole, opening doors he shouldn't to find Slade Wilson. It's messing with his head. He says Slade's going to take away anyone he ever loved. He's barely hanging on."
Connor follows his gaze to the door to Felicity's apartment. "Is she in immediate danger?"
John sighs, placing his mug of hot chocolate into the cup holder. "No idea. Slade hasn't seen them together."
"Oliver's not worried about you?"
Digg laughs. "Please. I'm pretty sure even Oliver doesn't realize how much he cares about her. Truth be told, I'm worried too. If he's going after the people Oliver's close to…it's no wonder he pushes away the people who really matter to him."
"You think I can convince her to come visit me for a couple weeks?" He's worried about her, about the danger she might be in.
"You think she'll be safer in Riyadh?"
"Well, there won't be a madman possibly trying to hunt her down." That's a plus in his book.
"If you think she'd agree to leave with all this going on. You're crazy."
Connor stares at the windshield, knowing that Digg has a point. Felicity won't allow herself to get whisked away while her friends are in danger. She's not wired like that.
"If I didn't have to be back…" He doesn't actually know what he would do, but he wouldn't let them face this alone. At the very least, he could stitch them back together when all was said and done. He's training to be a trauma surgeon and you know what, he's had a lot of hands-on training. He could be an asset.
"Don't," Digg says, taking a sip of the steaming hot chocolate. "You left Starling for a reason. Don't forget that."
Connor runs a hand over his jaw.
"Besides, it's not like you can fight crime. You're not a fighter. We've got this handled."
He doesn't like being pushed to the side. He's been "handled" and taken care of, sidelined more times than he cares to admit. His father did it. Oliver did it. His father always just expected him to fall in line. He would act out, behave rashly, but despite that there was always the general assumption that one day he would be thrown into Merlyn Global and he would shape up.
And he had. He had given in to his father's wishes when he and Oliver had their falling out. Now that medicine's his life…he can't imagine going back. It's his own God complex. He can save lives with his skill, his knowledge. But he's not done learning.
As much as he hates to admit it, John's right. He needs to go back – to learn – before he can come back here and try to make a difference.
He sighs. "Looks like I'm going to need a ride to the airport then."
…
