*It's Gideon's birthday and you know how much he hates celebrating, but you still want to do something for him.

Gideon was lying in bed wide awake thinking of her, as always.

She had plans...probably with Ruin. That name alone made him angry. [Y/N] could be in his arms right now or..something worse. Gideon rolled over and punched his pillow. What could he do? Get rid of Ruin, send him on some faraway mission. No. The choice was [y/n]'s, he wasn't going to cheat his way into her heart. Besides, she was probably terrified of him right now, it would take awhile for her to come back around.

Yeah, Gid, you fucked up royally.

Suddenly his phone rings. Who the hell would be calling him after midnight? The name and picture that pop up on his phone has him sitting up quickly and nearly dropping his phone.

He answers. "[Y/N]. Is everything okay? Are you okay?" She laughs. "Yes, Gideon, I'm fine...just a little drunk."

Gideon smiles. Maybe he didn't screw up as bad as he thought, but she is drunk. Don't think of that, just live in the moment.

"So what made you call me?"

"What made me call you? It's your birthday, silly! I wanted to be the first to say happy birthday."

My birthday. Holy shit.

"Did you forget your birthday again, Captain?" she asks.

"Uh, yeah. You know I don't like making a big deal out of it." Gideon wasn't a party person and he had been that was as long as he could remember.

"Well, now that I've reminded you, are you going to celebrate?"

"[Y/N], you know that I don't do the whole party thing. I'm definitely not going to celebrate getting old." Gideon knows he was sounding sorry for himself, but hey, it was true. That salt-and-pepper hair of his was getting even worse.

"You still there?" she asks snapping him out of his reverie. "Yeah, I'm here."

"You okay?"

"I'm fine. Just feeling sorry for myself." Gideon sighs and lays back down.

"How old are you?" she asks.

"I'm 43."

"And you think that's old?"

"It is compared to the rest of you." She snorts, "That's the silliest thing I've ever heard. You're not old. 43 isn't old."

Gideon gives up arguing with her. "Agree to disagree, I guess. Why are you up so late drinking alone?" he asks. Unless she wasn't alone.

"I was hanging out with Ruin, he left and I couldn't go to sleep. Now I'm drinking the beer he left behind."

Gideon wanted to know, but then he didn't want to know. It was a good sign that Ruin didn't stay over, but that didn't mean nothing happened while he was there. Gideon felt himself getting angry. "Why didn't he stay?"

She's quiet for a time then says, "I don't know. He's being a good guy, I guess."

"Did you want him to stay?" He doesn't know why he asked that, but he needed to stop NOW.

"It doesn't matter, Gideon. Why are you asking me so many questions about Ruin? Isn't he like your arch enemy?" She sounded frustrated now. "I just wanted to say happy birthday..." she says sadly.

Gideon wanted to punch himself. "I'm sorry, hun. I guess I let jealousy get the best of me."

"You can make it up to me by actually doing something for your birthday. Don't sit around feeling sorry for yourself. Look in the mirror and tell yourself that you're sexy,you're experienced, and that you've earned those beautiful gray hairs." He could hear the smile in her voice. Her little pep talk actually made him feel better.

Gideon smiled which is something he didn't do often. "Thanks for the pep talk. I'll try to do something today...emphasis on try."

"That's good enough for me, sir."

"Now stop drinking and go to sleep, that's an order."

She giggles. "Yes, sir. See you at breakfast. By the way, you make 43 look great. Goodnight." She hangs up and Gideon is left laying there grinning like an idiot. He felt as though he had some new found confidence in his age thanks to her.

He rolled over and imagined her laying next to him. Soon he was asleep and dreaming. She was always his in his dream.

Your POV

After getting off the phone with Gideon you tried to think of something you could do for him for his birthday. This would be much easier if you were sober.

A cake! You can bake him a cake! Your face lights up, but then you remember you're not sure if he likes chocolate, vanilla, strawberry...oh boy. Red velvet. Everyone likes red velvet, right? Now go to sleep like Gideon told you to so you can actually function in the morning.

You wake up slightly hungover, but taking a shower helps you feel a little better.

The sun seems brighter than usual today so you put your sunglasses on. Gideon can yell at you about it later.

Mitchell meets up with you on your way to the mess hall. "[Y/N], how are you?" he asks. "I'm good. Hungover, but good."

"That explains the sunglasses." He laughs and nudges you.

"Have you seen the birthday boy? I have a feeling he's trying to hide from me."

Mitchell shrugs. "Haven't seen him, maybe he's already at breakfast."

"I need to run out today to get some stuff. I want to make Gideon a cake, you wanna come?" you ask.

"Sure. I need to get away from this place even if it's just for an hour." Mitchell holds the door open for you and you're met with the smell of bacon and eggs. Your stomach grumbles. "Mmmm food," you say and Mitchell smiles.

You spot Gideon waiting for his food so you run over and hug him. "Happy birthday!" you say a little too loudly for his tastes.

"Thank you, but hush! I don't need the entire bloody base knowing its my birthday...and no PDA in uniform, miss." Gideon sounds serious.

You pull away to look at him and he laughs.

"Are we partying?"

"Um, no," Gideon says and you pout. "Why not?!"

"You know why."

"Well, I still may have a surprise up my sleeve," you say as you grab a tray and walk away.

"[Y/N]...[Y/N]! What are you talking about? Get back here!" Gideon shouts as you walk away.

You're joking around with Mitchell when Gideon storms over. "Whatever you're planning you better tell me now." He sits down heavily and looks at you.

"Ask Mitchell," you say.

"Heyyyyy!" Mitchell kicks you under the table.

"Mitchell?" Gideon stares him down. "What? I don't know!" Mitchell shrugs.

Gideon looks back at you and you wink.

The rest of the time at breakfast is spent trying to distract Gideon from what you have planned. By the time you and Mitchell finally escape, his face is red and he looks fit to burst.

At the store you tell Mitchell that he has to keep Gideon busy as you bake. After getting all the ingredients you need, you guys make your way back to base. Mitchell goes off to keep Gideon distracted and you start baking.

Your phone rings as you're putting the cake in the oven. Gideon, of course. "What Gideon?"

"Are you going to tell me what the hell you're up to?" he asks.

"Nope."

"Even if I commanded you to tell me?"

"You can try whatever you want, sir. It won't work." You laugh quietly as his growls over the phone.

"How'd you get so stubborn?" Gideon asks.

"I work with you," you say and hang up. You smile smugly to yourself. Gotcha.

The timer goes off so you remove the cake from the oven and let it cool before frosting it. You've already started sneaking tastes of the frosting. The frosting has to make it onto the cake, [y/n].

When you finish, you take a step back and admire your work. I'm no cake boss, but it looks pretty damn good.

You cover it and take it to your room. You look in the mirror and shake your head. You're almost completely covered in flour and whatever else you were using. You take a shower and put on clean clothes. Now you were ready to surprise Gideon. Hopefully Mitchell didn't have too tough of a time keeping Gideon occupied.

Who were you kidding? Everything was tough when it came to Gideon.

Suddenly you realize that you haven't checked your phone since you talked to Gideon. Three missed calls and a text. One call is from Ilona and the other two are from Ruin, the text is too. No voicemail so it's probably not serious.

You open the text from Ruin: Hey. Hope you're not mad at me about last nite. Call me. You text back: No I'm not upset. Just been busy. I'll call you later :). That should hold him over for now.

You're so proud of yourself and your surprise. By the time you reach Gideon's room, you have a huge smile on your face. You knock a few times and the door opens quickly. "Happy birthday, Captain!"

Gideon looks at you then down at the cake. "What is it?" he says nonchalantly.

"A cake, you idiot! What does it look like?"

"What kind?" he crosses his arms over his chest.

"Red velvet. You like?" You start feeling a bit discouraged, but then Gideon smirks. "How'd you know I like red velvet?"

"I didn't. Lucky guess."

He takes the cake from you and places it on the table by the door.

"Did you really stay in here all day? It's your birthday from crying out loud!"

"So?" Gideon shrugs.

"So you're acting like an grumpy old man and you're not...well...you're not old, but grumpy...that's a little true..." You laugh a little and he squints at you. "Is this why Mitchell had me doing stupid shit all day?" he asks.

You nod. "Yeah, sorry..but you'll enjoy the cake. It's worth it."

"I'm sure I will. You wanna come in and have a piece with me?" Gideon asks. "Duh!" You shove past him and he shuts the door shaking his head.

While you were enjoying cake, you had no idea that Ruin was nearby. He had missed the whole happy birthday part and only saw you go into Gideon's room in a hurry.

...and now your text about being busy had a totally different meaning to him...