A/N: Newbie Author with her first offering...so please be kind :). Would love feedback
Disclaimer: I do not in any way profit from the story and all creative rights to the characters belong to their original creator.
"Brandt, are you joining us for dinner?" The question from Benji is casual and friendly, but there's that tiny bit of awkwardness lurking beneath anyway. Will has no idea what it is about him that he can never be completely at ease around others…why he's always the one standing apart in a group or silent in a conversation, why he always feels loneliest in a crowd or why he's only ever called by his last name, even by people he sees every day.
"Yeah, sure." He sets the laptop down and gets up, pretending not to notice the look of surprise on Benji's face. He wonders if he should be offended that Benji had expected him to refuse, but Will has never been the most social butterfly so he can't blame Benji."Where are we headed?"
"There's an Italian place a couple of blocks over…apparently Jane has been there before and loved the food. She and Ethan are already there, I think."
"Sounds good."
The walk over to the restaurant is mostly silent, it's not exactly an uncomfortable silence but enough to rankle Will in his steadily declining mood. The restaurant seems every bit as good as advertised, small but cozy and they find Ethan and Jane tucked into a corner, away from the music and other patrons.
"Nice of you to join us, Brandt," Jane remarks, eyes twinkling. "You were spending so much time with your analyst friends, I thought you had forgotten us."
"I was lured by the promise of good food," Will replies, taking his seat.
On any other day Will thinks he would have enjoyed the dinner, all three of his team members happy and relaxed and the conversation flowing from more serious topics like rebuilding the IMF to random musings like guessing the number of broken bones for each member of the team… it seems more morbid than fun to him, but he keeps from voicing the sentiment when all the other three seem so amused by it. But today he just feels more and more isolated and starts to wish he hadn't come.
Every time his name is mentioned it's like an itch under his skin that won't go away. He looked googled the meaning of his name once on a whim, and the first site he had come across had revealed the meaning of William to be protector and Brandt to be sword. He wonders if it's ironic that of the two, Brandt is the one that sticks…sharp, hard and capable of destroying anything it comes into contact with.
He is interrupted in his maudlin musing by Benji waving his hand in front of his face. "Woo hoo! Anyone home?"
"Yeah, sorry, got distracted for a minute."
"Are you feeling alright? You don't seem all here, man."
Will realizes all of a sudden that all three of his team mates are focused on him now. Ethan's face is blank and he can see the smile on Jane's face fade to be replaced by a look of concern. The itch under his skin intensifies and he starts to feel uncomfortably warm all of a sudden. He has never liked being the center of attention, and it's especially grating now.
"Yeah, I think I may be coming down with something…I think I'll just go back and sleep it off. You guys have fun."
He gets up and leaves before anyone can respond. He can hear Benji's calling after him 'Brandt', and has to suppress a bout of hysterical laughter as he walks out.