Disclaimer: I still don't own Mutant X. Any resemblance to any other story or plot is unintentional.
Author's Note: This is my second MX fanfic, in fact it's my second fanfic ever so please be kind and review! :)
I don't know when anyone's birthdays are, but there definitely was a lack of holiday celebration, so I decided to write my own.
Prologue
"This is just like Emma!" Brennan grumbled. "She starts planning this elaborate new mutant Halloween bash and then she disappears when there's real work to be done." He held out a hand to his teammate.
"Yeah," Jesse agreed, handing Brennan another roll of orange crepe ribbon. "But you have to admit, it's a great way to blow off a little steam. We haven't had a lot to celebrate lately with Ashlocke running around and harassing us."
Shalimar walked into the room, took one look around at the orange and black streamers and at who was hanging them and started snickering. "I see Emma figured out a way to rope you guys into helping after all. What'd she do, appeal to your sense of chivalry?"
Jesse flushed. "Actually, " he said, sounding just a tad stuffy, "she simply pointed out that we were both much taller and therefore could easily hang these for her while she continued to work on the other details of the party."
His response just made Shalimar laugh even harder. She strolled over to the shiny new refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water. Brennan and Jesse both glared at her as she leaned up against the counter. "Shouldn't you be helping too?" Brennan asked.
"Oh, but I am. Emma put me in charge of the music. And I must say, I think I got the easier of the two jobs."
A new voice spoke up. "About Emma," Adam said as he walked into the room, "has anyone seen her lately? I want to see if the guest list I'm compiling is ok with her. I don't know how many people she really wants to invite. After all, there is very limited space in this safe house."
That started Shalimar giggling once again. Adam in charge of a guest list!?! What was Emma thinking?
It was soon decided that none of the team had seen Emma in at least two hours. Brennan was just at the point of contacting her on her comlink when she breezed into the safe house. "Hi, guys. How's it going?" she asked. Her blue eyes were twinkling with excitement and a pretty flush colored her cheeks. She was obviously enjoying herself.
"Fine, but the fellows here were wondering where you were at," Shalimar answered.
"Oh, I was just making up the shopping list for the food and stuff. I can see the guys hav a long way to go with their decorating. Shalimar, you wanna go with me?"
Shalimar looked at the guys who glared at her. Obviously they didn't want her to go, but they were equally unwilling to hurt Emma's feelings by refusing to finish the decorating. She couldn't resist. "Sure Em, I'd be happy to go with you."
"Great! Adam, do you have that guest list for me yet?" Emma quickly scanned the sheet he handed her and made a few adjustments. Then, after sending Adam off to take care of getting the invitations out, the two girls headed out the door.
"Oh, and guys, don't forget that this is a costume party, you only have a day to come up with a good costume," Shalimar couldn't resist reminding them as she pulled the door closed behind her.
With no other choice, Jesse and Brennan returned to hanging the streamers. Brennan continued to grumble under his breath, until finally, Jesse couldn't take it anymore. "Brennan, if you can't share it with me, please keep it to yourself!" He received an irritated glare in response. "What is it," Jesse continued. "Don't you want to have this party?"
Brennan sighed. "It's not that," he protested. "It's just that I'm not really into the Halloween thing."
"Why's that?"
"Promise not to tell?"
"Tell who?" Jesse asked.
"Anyone. Particularly the girls," Brennan responded.
"Sure, I promise. So what is the big, dark, secret?"
"I don't really like Halloween, because it's my birthday."
Jesse stared at him. "You're kidding right? Your profile said it was in April or something."
Brennan nodded. "That's because it's when I celebrate it. When I was a kid I never really got to celebrate my birthday because everyone was all wrapped up in Halloween. Anyway, I chose to celebrate it in April because that's my half birthday. I convinced Adam that there was a typo in his bio and I never told the girls because I really don't like making a big fuss out of it."
"So what you're telling me," Jesse said, "is that we're actually celebrating your birthday and the girls don't even know it?" Brennan winced at the delighted tone of Jesse's voice.
"I knew I shouldn't have told you."
"Come on," Jesse protested. "It's not that bad. I promised I wouldn't tell and I won't. It'll be our secret."
"Famous last words," Brennan grumbled under his breath as he turned to hang his last streamer.