Anniversary

by angellwings

"Okay, LITs—" Flynn started before Cassandra's hand rose hesitantly into the air. "Yes, Cassandra?"

"Where's Colonel Baird? You said you needed everyone here, didn't you?" She asked.

"Jenkins is out distracting Eve, which is why I needed all of you here," he said with a grin.

"Jenkins left the Annex?" Ezekiel asked in shock. "To do a favor…for you?"

"I was just as surprised as you," Flynn said with a chuckle.

"Why does Baird need distracting?" Stone asked.

"Because we're planning a surprise party," Flynn told them.

"Her birthday isn't until December," Cassandra said in confusion.

"I'm well aware. This isn't a surprise birthday party," he said with a nod. "It's a surprise anniversary party."

Ezekiel made a disgusted face. "Mate, we're happy for you two crazy kids but do we have to be involved in this?"

"What?" Flynn asked with a furrowed brow. "No! It's not that anniversary," Flynn said with a sigh. "It's the anniversary of her first day at The Library."

Cassandra raised her hand again and Flynn pointed at her with a tired expression. "Yes, Cassandra?"

"Wasn't Colonel Baird's first day at The Library also our first day at The Library? Technically?" Cassandra asked.

Jake and Ezekiel gave Flynn pointed grins. Cassandra never forgot a date. Ever.

"I—well, um," Flynn said thoughtfully before he smiled sheepishly at his young trainees. "I suppose so." He forced a bright smile and flourished his arms out awkwardly. "Happy anniversary, LITs!"

Ezekiel chuckled and looked to his fellow LITs. "We're always an after thought with this guy."

"Not always," Flynn said apologetically.

"It's okay, Flynn," Cassandra said with a sympathetic smile. "We know you haven't been around people in quite some time."

The group grinned at him in amusement for a moment before Jake spoke up with a nod. "Okay, so what do we need to do first?"

"First?" Flynn asked. "Food preparation."

"On it," Jake said decisively.

"Why you?" Ezekiel asked. "I'm the one with the gourmet taste buds."

"Tasting the food and cooking the food are two very different things, Jones," Jake told him as he rolled his eyes and disappeared into the kitchen.

"Okay," Flynn said as he turned to the remaining two. "Decorations?"

"Oooh!" Cassandra yelled as she threw her arm into the air with an excited hop. "Pick me! Please pick me!"

Flynn chuckled at her and then nodded. "Have at it."

"Yay!" She yelled happily. She grabbed her purse and her keys and headed for the door. "Be back later!" She yelled over her shoulder as she left.

"That just leaves the two of us to find a gift," Flynn told Ezekiel. He spun the globe by the Back Door. "And I know just where to start."

Flynn grabbed Ezekiel by the hood of his sweatshirt and pulled him out the door. He released him once they were jolted through and Ezekiel furrowed his brow at the small city that surrounded them.

"Is this Germany?" He asked.

"Yes, it is," Flynn said with a wistful expression.

"Okay," Ezekiel said expectantly. "And this is the perfect place to find Baird's gift because?"

"It's where we met," Flynn told him with a vague hand gesture. "The first time, anyway."

"You met in Germany?"

"She was diffusing a bomb, I was diffusing a relic. She thought I was crazy," Flynn summarized.

"Right, so just the usual meet-cute then?" Ezekiel asked sarcastically.

"Well, I did save the world, so yes, business as usual for me," Flynn glanced around the street the Door had dumped them out on and grinned a nearby shop. He'd missed Ezekiel's sarcastic jab completely. "Ah-ha! There we are!"

Once again, he dragged Ezekiel along by the hood. The young thief sighed in resignation and allowed himself to be pulled through the streets of whatever small German town they'd found.

Cassandra was back with decorations within 45 minutes of leaving. Once arriving at the party story deciding had been easy. She already knew most of what she wanted. She'd chosen green and blue everything and immediately gotten to work when she arrived back at The Annex. She twisted streamers, set the table, spread out the balloons she'd bought that said "thank you" and "congratulations", and used the helium she found in Jenkins's lab to blow up even more balloons. The room already looked like party central when Jake came in from the kitchen.

His eyes widened and he slowly approached Cassandra as she stood on a step ladder to put streamers above the main door.

"You did all of this in ninety minutes?" Jake asked in amazement.

She turned to him expectantly and smiled. "Do you like it?"

"It looks great, Cassie. A little like a party supply store exploded but other than that great," He told her with a teasing smile.

She giggled and nodded. "I know, but it's cheery and I like it. How's the food coming?"

"I managed to find supplies for a cake, cucumber sandwiches, and guacamole. The cake layers are cooling and everything else is done. I thought I'd go pick up some chips, beverages, and pizza. It's the only food we all seem to agree on," Jake explained with a chuckle.

"I'll go with you," Cassandra said as she climbed down the ladder. Jake reached out a hand to help her as she reached the last few steps. She smiled warmly at him in thanks as she reached the bottom step. "I'm done here anyway."

He motioned for her to lead the way as he pulled out the keys to his truck. He debated watching in amusement as Cassandra attempted to pull herself into his truck, but he ultimately decided to be a gentleman and offered her a hand up before closing the door for her and then walking around to climb in the driver's side.

"How do you drive this thing?" Cassandra asked as he shut the driver's side door. "It's huge."

"Carefully," he offered with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes at him and smiled dryly. "Funny."

"I can manage a joke," he told her with a chuckle. "Sometimes."

"Not often, though," Cassie said teasingly. "Just sometimes."

"If I make too many jokes then the ones I do make wouldn't be as funny, would they?" He asked her pointedly. "The shock value alone gets me pity laughs. It's much better that way."

Cassandra laughed loudly and shook her head at him. Well, this shopping trip would be interesting.

Ezekiel was bored. Flynn did not need him for this. He was simply browsing the items locked up in glass display cases. None of them really shouted Baird to Ezekiel but Flynn was the one dating her. He shudder a bit at the idea of Colonel Baird dating anyone. It seemed odd and wrong. Like your older, really annoying, sister dating your old high school teacher or something. He'd prefer, if at all possible, no to think about it at all.

"Yes!" Flynn said suddenly. "Those!"

Ezekiel turned to find him purchasing a pair of small stud earrings. From where he stood he couldn't make out the stone in them, but it was diamonds or rubies or sapphires. He could tell that much.

"That was fast," Ezekiel said as Flynn paid the shopkeeper quickly and then they went on their way.

"Now," Flynn said with a nod. "It's your turn."

Ezekiel gave him a startled look. "What? My turn? For what?"

"She needs a present from the LITs," Flynn said adamantly.

"Why? No one's getting us any anniversary presents," Ezekiel grumbled. "And I am not good at gifts. Not buying them anyway," he said as he thought back to the trophy he'd once stolen for Cassandra and the birthday gift he'd stolen for Baird. "You really should've brought Cassandra or Stone. They're good at the sentimental stuff."

"You're better at it than you think you are from what I hear," Flynn said with a smirk. "Cassandra certainly enjoys her trophy considering it's prominently displayed on her work station."

"Yeah, but I stole that," he said with a smirk. "I can steal a gift easy. Buying one is torture."

"Well," Flynn said with a shrug. "Then steal one."

Ezekiel blinked at him in shock. "What?"

"Steal one," Flynn said with a grin. "But it can't be something from a small business or something worth more than fifty dollars. People have it hard enough without missing a good chunk of their inventory."

Ezekiel beamed at him and nodded quickly. "Deal!"

Now to find the perfect present. Something Baird would enjoy despite knowing it was stolen or…maybe because of it being stolen. He smirked when his eyes fell on a large bookstore. It did not look like a small business. It looked like a franchise but then this was Germany so it was hard for him to tell. He turned a questioning look to Flynn for approval and the Senior Librarian nodded at him before motioning to the store. Ezekiel didn't need to be told twice. He had an idea of what he wanted. Now he just needed to find it.

Jake and Cassandra returned to the Annex with far more food than they'd intended. But Cassandra kept bringing up foods she'd never been allowed to eat growing up and Jake kept throwing more and more junk food in the cart to make up for it. They'd ended up with nearly every type of Little Debbie snack cake in existence, several kinds of ice cream, and enough candy and sodas to rot a mouthful of teeth. How he let this happen he didn't honestly know.

One minute she was asking him if oatmeal cream pies were any good and the next they were checking out with a shopping cart full of junk. He blamed those blue eyes of hers and her addicting smile. Every time he saw it, he wanted to see it again and again. This was surely a troubling sign that he was getting a little too close to the red head. But, for today at least, he refused to think about it too much.

It was as much their anniversary as it was Baird's and they deserved to celebrate. They'd made it a full year working for the Library and no one had gone missing or experienced any horrible misfortunes. He considered that a win. Cassandra helped him finish the cake, although she'd mostly stood back and watched him work. Handing him the things that he needed before he'd really asked for them. He'd yet to figure out how she knew what he would be asking her for before he'd asked for it. Sometimes, he wondered exactly what sort of things that brilliant brain of hers was capable of.

Just as he and Cassie were finishing putting out all of the food the Back Door burst open and Ezekiel and Flynn came running inside.

"Did we make it? Are we late?" Flynn asked as he stopped to catch his breath. He was suddenly distracted by the food on the table in the Annex. "Hey, Swiss Cake Rolls! I love those!"

Ezekiel said nothing but reached across to pick up a Zebra Cake. Cassandra swatted his hand away and glared at him. "We're waiting for Colonel Baird."

"Do we even know when she'll get here?" Ezekiel asked.

Flynn pulled a pocket watch out of his inside jacket pocket before he answered. "In about five minutes if Jenkins has timed everything correctly."

"Right, I should probably wrap our gift then!" Ezekiel said urgently as he ran off to Jenkins's lab.

"Gift?" Cassandra asked as she gave Flynn a curious look. "What did he steal?"

Flynn shrugged and gave her genuinely clueless look. "He refused to tell me."

"So, how are we doing this?" Jake asked. "Are we gonna hide and then jump out and yell surprise or—"

Flynn laughed and then immediately shook his head no. "Do you really want to jump out and yell at someone who worked for NATO Counter Terrorism? Do you?"

"Right, good point," Jake said with a wince and a nod. "I'd prefer not to be shot."

"I think we'd all prefer that," Cassandra said with a chuckle. "So, we just all stand here and let her put it all together," Cassandra told them. "It's not like she won't know it's a surprise if we don't scream it at her."

Ezekiel came back into the room with a blue gift bag with green tissue paper sticking out of the top of it. "ETA?" He asked.

Flynn glanced at his pocket watch again. "Should be—"

The sound of the door opening stopped him short.

"Um, well, now," he whispered with a large smile.

They could hear Jenkins and Baird bickering from the corridor that led outside.

"No, Jenkins," Baird said with a tired sigh. "A car cannot drive through three feet of water. What is wrong with you? Aren't you supposed to be insufferably brilliant?"

"A horse could do it," Jenkins grumbled. "Never experienced any problems with a horse."

"Please, tell me you understand the difference between a car and a horse," Eve said as she wrung out her soaked jacket. "I'm the Guardian. I'm supposed to be the less intelligent one. Not you. You're supposed to be snarky and snobbish and passive aggressive and—"

Eve froze as she came around the corner and noticed the decorations. Jenkins hung back by the door to give her a moment to take it all in.

"What in the world is this?" She asked as she smiled at the four people standing around the table.

"Happy anniversary!" Cassandra yelled happily as she bounced up on the balls of her feet in eager excitement.

"Flynn reminded us that today makes one year that you—"

"And all of us," Ezekiel said as he interrupted Jake.

Jake gave Ezekiel a silencing look before he continued, "Have been working for the Library as of one year ago today."

She shook her head at them but smiled brighter than before. She then turned to Jenkins and pointed an accusing finger at him. "The rental car you ruined is coming out of The Library budget, you know that right?"

"I did not ruin it, Colonel Baird. It's just a little standing water," he said with a smirk. "It'll dry out. And to make sure it does, Mr. Carsen will be paying for it. As this shindig being thrown and my rather brilliant distraction was his idea."

Eve approached the table and then laughed at the selection of food. "Okay, who went to the grocery store on an empty stomach?" Her eyes lit up as they landed on something on the table and she laughed. "Oh! Swiss Cake Rolls! I love those!"

Flynn beamed at her and pointed between the two of them before he shouted, "Me too! Those are my favorite!"

Cassandra giggled before she leaned toward Jake and whispered, "Apprently, the snack cakes were a good decision." She held out her hand for a high five and he gave her an amused glance before rolling his eyes and returning the gesture. He may have rolled his eyes at her but the grin never left his face.

"Okay!" Ezekiel said impatiently. "Presents!"

For once he sounded as young as he actually was.

"Open ours first!" Ezekiel said anxiously as he handed her the bag.

Flynn frowned and resisted the urge to pout. Eve chuckled at him and then leaned forward to kiss his cheek. She winked at him and then spoke softly, "Thank you, Librarian."

"My pleasure, Guardian."

Ezekiel sighed and grimaced at the sight of the kiss. "Okay, enough mushy stuff. Open it!"

Jake and Cassandra exchanged amused glances. They had never seen Ezekiel this excited. Eve reached into the bag and pulled out a think, wide, hardcover book with a exaggerated illustrated image on the front of a tall blonde princess with long full hair. The title was in German but Baird could still make out the name Grimm on the front. She laughed and flipped through the book to find illustrations on every page and an illustration of the Huntsman that looked remarkably like Stone.

"Oh, God," Eve said with a chuckle. "I never want to be a princess again. Is this in German? I can't read German."

"Then it's a good thing there's pictures, eh?" Jones asked with a grin. "Just right for a Guardian."

"Yeah, that joke won't be so funny when I shoot you," Baird said with a teasing grin. "This is wonderful, guys, thank you." She paused and then turned to Flynn. "But if it's my anniversary, isn't it theirs too?" She motioned the LITs and they all turned knowing smiles on Flynn, waiting for his response.

"Um, yes, technically," he said with a nod. "But, really, they weren't officially hired by The Library until after we returned from London. So if you really think about it—"

"He forgot, didn't he?" Eve said as she interrupted him and turned to her three Librarians in Training.

"Yep."

"Of course."

"Did you expect anything different?"