The Loner's Club
By: theunknownvoice
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
He stared at the long scar running across his stomach. He had been working out when someone remarked on it. He tried not to let it bother him but today he was more on edge than usual.
Today was the day he supposed to go meet the others. He didn't know why he had been contacted but it couldn't be anything good. Ryan Mitchell could smell trouble a mile away.
This was Wes' idea. Of course it would be Wes who would cook up some half cocked attempt to make him a social creature. If anyone needed to socialize it was Wes. He was fine by himself regardless of Wes or anyone else's company. He didn't need anyone though he did appreciate someone else's cooking.
Sometimes he just wished Wes would listen to him. "Stay out of my life. I don't need your help," he had yelled repeatedly. He swore as he glanced at the clock. He had to be there in ten minutes. Eric groaned if he didn't kill Wes later then he was loosing it.
A lone wolf indeed he groaned. He had spent months wandering from place to place. Of course the wandering had been better than the reminiscing. It wasn't like he was alone. Zen Aku was his constant companion. Not that they ever said much to each other. The idea that he was supposed to meet these guys was insane. Trust Cole to come up with some insane plot to get him to socialize. Why on earth was he going along with it then? Merrick glanced around the diner.
Ryan pulled up to the little restaurant. Ellie's was a family establishment which meant no beer. Ryan felt his insides heat at the thought. He could see Dana's planning skills behind this one. His sister needed to mind her own business. He walked into the diner. How was he supposed to find the others?
Eric had been forced to raid through his closet. He refused to wear anything but his Silver Guardians uniform. Of course he had to sneak it past Jen and Katie but that was fine. At least he would be comfortable with something. He glanced around the dinner. What he wouldn't give for a few moments of precious time. He didn't want to be here.
Merrick had his own problems. Alyssa had insisted that he take a shower and change his clothes before coming. He had only been in Turtle Cove for a few minutes before he was pounced upon by his two female teammates. They were determined to make him look "presentable" whatever the hell that meant.
It took Ryan a minute to spot Eric. The silver guardian uniform stuck out like a sore thumb in a place like this. Merrick too spotted Eric fairly easily.
The three of them sat around the table not knowing what to say to each other. It was a corner booth far away from the other people. There was a teenage couple heatedly making out and a group of high school kids chatting happily. An elderly couple was trying to eat a quiet dinner while a family with four kids and a baby bustled around. Apparently it was one of the kid's birthdays.
"Who do you think set this up?" Ryan asked breaking the silence.
"My money's on Wes. He's always butting into my life. He thinks I have problems because I'm not as much as a social butterfly as he is," Eric asked.
"This stinks of Cole. He's always trying to set me up on dates and outings to make 'new friends.' He thinks he's doing me a service. Now that he and Alyssa have broken up I thought that he'd mind his own but no," Merrick grumbled.
"I was thinking my sister but most likely it was Carter. He thinks I'm too quiet. Just because he's my brother-in-law doesn't mean I have to want to be chummy," Ryan said.
"I say we get the hell out of here. All this wholesomeness is going to be the death of me," Eric said.
"There's a bar a few blocks away," Merrick responded.
The other two stared at him.
"Oh please, don't tell me you weren't thinking the same thing. I need a beer and a game of pool but would be nice," he said.
The bar environment suited them all better. They drank and played pool. It was nice to be away from their crazy teammates.
"Let me ask you guys something," Ryan said casually. "Does your team know everything about you? Because I'm not as much of a loner as they think I am."
"No, I've been keeping things from my former leader," Merrick said as sent the eight ball into the corner pocket.
"Tell Wes something and the entire unit knows. He can keep a secret but you have to specify that it's a secret," Eric said as he handed Merrick twenty dollars.
Ryan took his turn at the pool table. At this rate they were both going to owe Merrick their salary for the next two weeks.
"This wasn't the world's worst idea. It could have been a lot worse," Eric remarked as they headed out of the bar.
"We should do it again," Merrick said heading over to his motorcycle.
Ryan nodded. He had found a sense of camaraderie with these two people.
"I'm not telling them that it worked," Eric remarked. "Wes would never let me live this down."
"Try living with Carter and Dana after they find out. They'll think they have more of a right to meddle," Ryan remarked.
"Cole's annoying as it is. I would rather not give him more of a reason to be," Merrick chuckled.
Ryan walked into his apartment rather calmly. He could see the left over casserole in the microwave.
"How'd it go?" Karone asked coming out of the bedroom.
Ever since they had met Ryan had been in love with Karone. He hadn't told the others about them living together in order to avoid the lecture. Karone had also been keeping their relationship a secret.
"We ended up at the bar. I lost a hundred dollars playing pool," Ryan said as he kissed her cheek.
Karone smiled softly. "You had that good of a time. I'm surprised."
"I missed you," he said.
"I missed you too. I ended up talking to Maya and Kendrix. They wanted to know who makes me smile so much," she said kissing him quickly.
Eric didn't want to wake her. She lay completely passed out on his couch. He chuckled softly who would have thought that she would wait for him. She was after all one tough lady.
"How'd it go?" Katie asked rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"Family restaurants aren't my type of thing. The others tended to favor bars too."
"Don't tell Wes that. He was hoping the experience would 'take him out of his comfort zone and force him to meet new people.'"
"I'm not telling Wes anything about this. I am giving him a bill for two hundred dollars though."
Katie's eyebrows rose.
"That's how much money I lost at pool," he said as he bent over and kissed her dragging her towards their bedroom.
Merrick parked his bike carefully in the trees. He definitely didn't need Cole to find it there in the morning. That would bring up several questions he didn't want to answer.
He climbed the back fence easily. Carefully he opened the back door. He was glad to have a key. Before she had just kept it unlocked but that was too dangerous. He didn't want anything to happen to her.
Carefully he treaded towards the upstairs. She was lying on the bed her eyes closed. Hopefully she was in a happy dream. The minute he laid down next to her she woke up.
"How'd it go?" Alyssa asked turning to face him.
"I won three hundred dollars," he answered pulling her closer.
"You got them to go to a bar. I should've known that Cole's restaurant wouldn't work for you."
"Obviously neither one of us like Cole's choices."
Alyssa wrinkled her nose at the mention of her and Cole's failed relationship.
"Did you like the other guys?"
"Yeah, it was nice being around other people who are realists."
"Does that mean you don't like optimists?" she asked pouting.
"No, there's one optimist I particularly love," he said kissing her forehead.
The End