A/N: Originally decided to make this just have the characters from the show but I haven't played with my OFC for the Highlander men in awhile so I thought I'd bring them in for this one for Methos' sake. Well, all but one. I'm straying against Ashlynn. Besides, we'll just say that this took place before Ashlynn and Methos met. Tilly knew Dawson way before that anyway, at least in mind.

Warning: Another one not beated… I'm not sure where Matt went you guys…

Surprise!

By: LOSTrocker

Chapter One: Planning:

Methos caught Richie staring at him again. "What?"

Richie jumped. He wasn't trying to be funny or get spotted. Richie was just curious about The Old Man, after all he was 5,000 years old give or take a few years. However, the question he had on his mind was something simple yet when it came to Methos it really wasn't.

"Sorry, I was just wondering about something." Richie answered.

Methos rolled his eyes. "Oh God, should I even ask?" Methos knew when Richie started thinking it could only end in bad results. Someone was going to leave here tonight with a head ache and for once it wouldn't be because of Joe's alcohol. The Old Man turned to Joe for this one but Dawson just laughed and went to another costumer. He was smart enough to stay out of Richie's ponderings.

Richie was hesitant. Methos wasn't the type to get personal but what was on his mind was starting to drive him crazy and Mac always said if you ever wanted to know something to just ask. If Methos went to kill him he could always use Mac as the excuse. "When is your birthday?"

The question took Methos for a loop that was for sure. No one had ever asked him that before. He was thankful because he really couldn't really remember anyway. Methos couldn't even think back to when he even celebrated his own day of birth. Then again he doubted he was worthy of that sort of celebration after the hell and chaos he managed to put the world through in his 5,000 plus years.

In all honesty, Methos really didn't know how to answer Richie, and now that he was thinking about it he really didn't want to. Sometimes he wished he was never born because if he wasn't he wouldn't have been Immortal or lost a lot of people he care about rather he wanted to admit that or not. Methos decided it was time to call it a night.

"I'm out of here." He pushed himself away from the bar living a half way finished draft beer.

"Was it something I said?" Richie asked.

Joe came back to get the bottle and just toss it. He hated to waste good beer but there was nothing else he could do. "Way to go Rich, you just killed the cat." Dawson made known hearing getting the last bit of their conversation.

"Hey, I'm sorry all right," Richie apologized again. "I was just curious."

"So I see," said Dawson.

"I mean even Mac remembers his birthday," Richie reminded him.

"Yeah but c'mon," replied Joe. "This is Methos. He's so old he can't remember when he took his first head."

"There's got to be something documented in those Methos Chronicles you keep up with." Richie suggested.

Dawson shook his head. "Nothing that I've seen,"

"Man, what a bummer," Richie said. "Everyone should celebrate their birthday." That's when Richie's thinking went a little deeper and surprisingly enough his head wasn't hurting because for once this was one hell of a brilliant idea.

Joe could see that in his eyes, and he was getting worried because of that. "What's going on in that vacant head of yours?" Dawson dared to ask.

"What if we through him a birthday party," Richie answered with a large grin. "I'm talking the whole nine yards: cake, candles, decorations, presents, got to have those, and of course beer. That's a must too."

Dawson laughed. He wasn't sure if it was because of what Richie just listed off or that that he was slowly starting to admit that Richie's idea was a rather good one. "What do you think?" Richie asked. "We could pull this off."

Joe agreed with that. "Yeah, we could." He said. "Just one problem, what day should it be on?"

Richie gave that some thought. It couldn't be just any random normal day. This was for Methos. It had to be something unique. Richie glanced at the calendar behind Joe when a certain date caught his eye. He found the perfect one. "Halloween, that has Methos written all over it!" Richie then added: "You know the whole Death thing." Richie shivered with that one. It was still hard to believe that Methos was part of the Four Horsemen.

It was a good choice. Dawson looked behind him and counted up the months and days they had. "We still got a couple of months. It's still early August."

"So, that will be plenty of time to plan," Richie made known. "And get some people rounded up for the party."

That one wouldn't be easy. Methos wasn't much of a socialite. The only friends that Dawson knew of were the usual circle that hung around his bar. Then again, there were the new ones too like Tilly. He smiled at the thought of her. She was in Paris with Amanda probably causing just as much chaos as Amanda did. He made a mental note to call her later to let her know what was going on.

Meanwhile, Richie had grabbed a napkin and all ready writing the things they would need. He couldn't wait to see The Old Man's face. This was going to be one hell of a party.

TBC…