This is in honour of not only Helen Magnus' birthday (which ended 22 minutes ago in my time zone, making this a bit late) but also the superb Amanda Tapping whose birthday started 22 minutes ago :P

Originally, this was gonna have a nearly naked Nikola jump out of a giant cake and then Helen would eat him up (in so many ways) but then I realised that that was more a birthday present for me. So, as much as that idea intrigued me, I went with the much more PG version... Also the more plausible option...

And shock, horror, I'm writing something that isn't totally Helen/Nikola centric! I'm impressed by myself :P

And I picked pink roses because I've got a vase of them sitting by my bed at this very moment and they are just too adorable and sweet and I really wish someone would buy me some for my birthday :P

Don't own, wish I did. Please don't sue me.

So, to cut short my ramblings, a very happy birthday to the wonderful Helen Magnus and the even more impressive/super brilliant/generally impressive in so many ways Amanda Tapping!

Enjoy

xx

Helen snuck a glance at the clock on the bottom of her computer screen and her eyes widened as she realized how very late it was. 4:23am. So much for an early night she thought as she stretched her muscles.

Then she froze.

Oh, great, yet another birthday started at an ungodly hour, she realized slowly.

With a sigh, Helen pulled herself out of her chair and started trudging towards her room. Any other night (morning, she corrected) she'd continue to work until she completed the task at hand but not tonight. No, instead of a peaceful day, Will had taken it upon himself to throw her a little birthday surprise. Supposedly a secret surprise but discussing it while wearing the headsets that recorded your words wasn't his brightest plan. Not that she'd told him she knew. She'd let him have his moment.

She would have snickered at his mistake if she wasn't flattered. She hadn't properly celebrated her birthday in years. Even with Ashley around, the day ended up going by unmarked except for the double, triple chocolate cake that ended up on her desk every year. Of course, it was nothing more than a chocolate cake but Ashley had been so enraptured by it every year that it soon picked up the inaccurate nickname. To be honest, Helen loved the cake too. She'd never found out who the cake came from but every year, it turned up regardless. There was a time when she suspected it came from James but after he passed away, the cakes continued and she'd dismissed the theory. Earlier in her life she'd suspected John but when she'd confronted him, his look of total innocence, whether feigned of otherwise, convinced her that he too was not the culprit.

She knew it wasn't Nikola. There was no way in the world that man knew how to cook.

Which left her with… well, no one. No one who was old enough to have started it right back when she turned 30, anyway.

With a stifled yawn, Helen rounded a corner only to stop in complete surprise.

"Nikola?" she asked, completely confused by the sight of the guilty looking vampire carrying a giant chocolate cake nearing her bedroom door.

He smiled at her sheepishly before taking a few more steps towards her.

"All these years…" she said, feeling herself getting misty eyed at the thought he'd cared so much.

"As much as I'd love to lay claim to that my dear, I'm afraid it's been something of a joint effort," he admitted, sauntering towards her. "Although I'm more than happy to receive your… thanks," he said, leering at her.

Helen scoffed at him half heartedly before eyeing him nervously. His smirk widened and she felt hundreds of questions congregate on the tip of her tongue.

"All in good time," Nikola said, obviously seeing her queries.

"But why are you heading to my bedroom?" she asked, unable to help it. He smirked at her again.

"We've had this conversation, Helen dear."

"No, that time I asked you why you were in my bedroom," she corrected, a little exasperated that she wasn't getting a straight answer.

"I knew you were in your office," he said with a shrug, shifting the platter he held to the other hand.

She stood, dumbfounded for a few moments as she looked between the irritating face of her oldest living friend and the cake he held.

"As much fun as this is," he said dryly, capturing her attention, "Do you think we could maybe go somewhere I can put this down?"

"Of course," Helen said, snapping out of her revere. She smiled at him before gesturing for him to follow her back down the corridor. In record time they made it to the kitchen and Nikola set down the cake before lounging in the nearest chair.

"I suppose you want to hear the story?" he said with a sigh. Helen nodded and sat down across from him. While some people would say that knowing the magic would ruin the surprise, Helen was most certainly one for full disclosure. Knowing the in's and out's of everything was far more satisfying than the surprise itself.

"Well, the first time, we were all trying to come up with a gift for you. James suggested jewellery, which I nixed, John said flowers, which Nigel nixed, I suggested a book which everyone nixed and then finally, Nigel suggested cake. Only problem was, none of us knew how to cook. So James enlisted that maid of yours who enlisted the cook who bought her baker husband along and, in no time, they taught us. After that, we all took turns," he said with an easy grin.

Helen was having trouble stifling her laughter at the image he painted for her. Her four best friends in their impeccable suits, standing in the kitchen as old Mrs. Wood taught them how to cook. Maybe Nigel would have been interested but the idea of Sherlock Holmes peering over the side of a bowl to inspect its contents was beyond hilarious. And then John. Oh god, the idea of John in an apron was simply ludicrous and an image that she'd never forget.

Her eyes flicked back to Nikola and her laughter burst forth again. He was giving her a curious look and she tried to stop, she really did but the fact that this irritating, adorable and smirking Serbian vampire had taken the time to learn to cook was too much.

"So you made this?" she asked, still giggling a little. It must be the exhaustion setting in, she decided as she bit her lip.

"Ah, no, not this year. This year it was Heinrich's turn."

Her eyes widened at that.

"You mean to say…" she trailed off. Now this really was too much.

"I did say we take turns," he said, patronizingly.

"Yes but…" She was losing her words, processing all of this.

"James told me Ashley even made a few," he said softly, sounding uncertain as to whether it was wise to share this particular piece of information.

She stared at him, a mixture of emotions on her face. She'd never made a big deal out of her birthday, after all, she'd had enough of them but every year she'd looked forward to this single gesture of affection, regardless of where it came from. She opened her mouth a few times and then shut it again before giving Nikola her trademark smile.

He began to leer at her and opened his mouth but was cut off as a very dishevelled looking Henry came stumbling through the door. He paused mid yawn, eyeing the scene before him.

"Aw, man," he said, sending an irritated glare at Nikola. "What happened to the big birthday secret?" he whined.

"She caught me," Nikola said, raising his hands in defence.

"I knew we should've got the Big Guy to deliver it," he complained, shooting Helen an apologetic look. "Sorry Doc," he said sheepishly.

"Don't apologise," she said, her voice sticking in her throat as she waved his apology off. "I had… I had no idea. Thank you," she said sincerely, looking into the face of the boy she considered her son. He gave her his brightest smile, looking like an excited 10 year old.

"Happy Birthday!" he said happily. "Can we have cake for breakfast?"

She laughed at him quietly but nodded, pushing it towards him but he shook his head.

"Nah uh, you gotta cut it," he insisted with a grin. She rolled her eyes and began to protest but the door swung open again, revealing a sleep looking Kate, followed by a slightly more put together Will and a seemingly unaffected Big Guy. They both stopped dead as they saw the cake, looking uncertainly at Henry who let out a sigh.

"Blame the vamp," he said rolling his eyes.

Kate and Will both shot Nikola looks of annoyance before muttering their birthday wishes to a rather bemused looking Helen.

"OH!" Henry exclaimed suddenly before dashing from the room. Everyone except Nikola (who was still lounging in the chair) looked surprised. Helen shot him a look and he grinned at her.

"He'll be back," he said, answering her question. Everyone sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, waiting for Henry's return. In the blink of an eye, he was barrelling through the door, clutching a laptop to his chest.

With an excited grin, he set the laptop down in front of Helen, tapped a few keys and a the screen flickered before settling on the grinning face of Declan.

"Happy Birthday!" he said with a smile and Helen let out a laugh.

"Thank you Declan, although the card you sent was enough, you didn't need to get up at… Oh, Declan, go to sleep!" she insisted, looking at her watch before flicking her worried gaze back to her friend.

"Like you can talk," he joked. "It's what 4am in Old City?"

"5," she corrected with a sheepish grin. "Which reminds me, why are you all up so early?" she said looking up at her half dressed team. They all shared guilty looks before Henry finally spoke.

"We, ah, were going to make you breakfast," he said, running a hand through his hair.

"Well, the Big Guy was gonna make you breakfast," Kate chimed in. "We were just gonna… You know, watch."

"You really shouldn't have gone to this much trouble," she said, feeling the colour rising in her cheeks.

"Too late," Will said, his words marred by a yawn.

"Huggybear's right," Nikola chimed in. "We've already gone to so much trouble, the least you could do is pretend to like it."

"I love it," she admonished, chastising him with her gaze. "Really, thank you," she added, looking first towards Declan then towards the rest of her friends. "But you shouldn't have."

They all began to protest but she held up a hand.

"Then I suppose you don't want these," Nikola said, producing a bunch of pale pink roses seemingly out of nowhere. As he took in her softened features, Nikola smirked at her.

"Baker's dozen," she said quietly, taking the flowers. She shot Nikola a smile which he reciprocated as she stood up to find a vase. She was a little relived they weren't red.

"I thought we agreed, no presents," Will complained.

"Since when have I played by your rules, my dear concubine," Nikola drawled, standing up.

Will looked like he was about to complain but settled for rolling his eyes and turning away from Nikola. The moment Helen turned away from the counter Henry held out a knife to her.

"Isn't it a little early for cake?" she asked, taking the implements from him.

"Never," Kate said, grabbing a handful of candles from the nearest draw. "I don't think we've got 161 but I suppose this will do," she said, carefully placing the candles on the cake before she lit them.

"No singing," Helen insisted as they shepherded her over to the cake.

"Wouldn't dream of it," the Big Guy said.

"So what? She just blows out the candles? That doesn't seem right!" Kate complained, looking to Henry for support.

"There's always later," Will interjected, tapping the side of his nose.

"While I appreciate the sentiment, the party really isn't necessary," she said with a kind smile.

Will looked shocked before sending a glare to Nikola.

"Oh grow up," Nikola admonished. "I didn't tell her."

Will looked unsure but said nothing. Simply to break the tension Helen leant forwards and blew out all the candles in one go before she grabbed a knife and started to cut the cake. While cake for breakfast wasn't something she'd normally condone, she had been a little taken aback by all the enthusiasm that was on show.

Once the knife touched the bottom Kate let out a cheeky chuckle.

"Now you have to kiss the nearest boy," she said with a sly glance to Henry.

Obligingly, Helen pecked him on the cheek and smiled. Kate looked a little put out but the look on Nikola's face more than made up for it. In a word, rage. Near murderous rage, to be exact. Helen smirked over the cake at him before serving it.

A few minutes and a sizable dent in the cake later, they all began to leave the kitchen, Helen carrying her vase of flowers, actually glad it was her birthday. As they made their way down the corridor, Helen fell in step with Nikola as the others hurried away, discussing in hushed whispers how best to salvage their ruined surprise party.

"Thank you for these," she said with a smile.

"There's more," he said, a serious look flashing over his face. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a stack of papers, tied together with a little red string and an envelope with her name on the front. "These are from me," he said, waving what she now realised was a stack of photographs. "And old Johnny asked me to give this to you," he added, twiddling the letter in his hands.

Helen glanced to check her team were out of ear shot before she stopped dead in the hallway.

"To be honest, I did toy with the idea of throwing it out," he admitted. "But John does have a nasty temperament and I'd rather not have him run me through with his bare fist again."

Helen let out a strangled laugh as she took the outstretched presents.

"Thank you," she said, looking her old friend in the eye. He simply smiled in response. She started to apologize for John's use of him as a delivery pigeon but was interrupted when Henry came barrelling up to them.

"Ah, Doc? We've got a problem…" he started.

"Something's never change," she said with a sigh. "Let me go put all this away and I'll be right there," she promised, turning on her heel.

"Need any help getting changed?" Nikola called out. "You know, as a birthday present."

"This is my birthday, not yours," Helen called over her shoulder.

It was just another day.