As the morning sun hit Kathryn's eyes she groan and pulled a pillow over her head. Today was not a good day. She hated today. It would have been better if Stephen were here, but he had been away for a week. One of his old contacts had given him a lead on his father, he hadn't wanted to go but she knew how important it was to him. And for that reason she hadn't told him what today was.

When her alarm clock went off a few minutes later, she through a pillow at it and when that didn't work she decided that she should get up. Technically she didn't have to go in today but she knew that they would be waiting for her to make an appearance. Standing in front of her closet she decided to do her Michael impersonation today. She put on black pants, shirt, and her black Jean jacket.

Standing in front of the bathroom mirror she put her hair in a loose braid and studied her reflection. She didn't look any different. Her face was still the same shape it alway was, her nose was still a little too long and narrow and her eyes were still three different colors of green.

'Might as well get this over with.' She thought when she glances at her watch. About ten minutes later she was entering Section when she heard someone call her name. She turned around to see Madeline.

"Good morning Madeline."

"Kathryn, I thought that you had today off?" As they started walking down the hall

"I do, but I thought that I should come in and say hello to Walter and everybody. Then I can go home and get thought this day as quickly as possible."

"You don't like today?" Kathryn sighed and looked at Madeline out of the corner of her eye. She really didn't want to be analyzed today, but she couldn't get out of it now. Well she didn't really care if Madeline knew why today was bothering her, so she told her the truth.

"It's not that I don't like it, it just that it has been the same the last couple of years."

"The last couple of years you haven't been here."

"It's more then that. It just...I miss my parents."

"That's to be expected. The anniversary of their death is in three months, and it will be ten years since they died. And today signifies that you've been without them for half your life. What I suggest is that you go talk to Walter, if he can't cheer you up nobody can."

"I will, See ya." She said as she started to walk away.

"Oh, Kathryn?"

"Yes?"

"Happy Birthday."

"Thank you, Madeline" Kathryn said as she went to find Walter.

************

Kathryn walked up to Walter's area, and was almost there when he looked up and gave her a huge smile.

"Hey, Sweets." he said as he walked over to her and gave her a big hug. "Happy Birthday"

"Thanks, Walter." She said with one eyebrow raised.

"What's with the look?"

"I'm trying to figure out what you have plan for me, and I can tell you do by the look in your eye." She moved a little closer and whispered "Why don't you tell me what it is and I promise to act surprised when it happens."

"I tell you because it not a secret." He whispered back, then in his normal voice "The four of us, Birkoff, Nikita, Michael and me are taking you out to dinner tonight."

"Is that it?"

"Yeah, that it. We know how you don't like to much fussing."

"Thanks" She said with a smile and started to leave, but turned around quickly. "Oh, what time?"

" 'Bout eight 'o clock"

"Okay, see ya."

"Bye" She walked away towards the computers but when she neared Michael's office she heard him call her name. When she looked in the office she saw what someone would expect to see when they looked in Michael's office. Michael sitting behind his desk and Nikita in the other chair.

"Yeah?" She asked as she leaned on the door frame.

"Bon Anniversaire" He say with a small smile on his face.

"Merci. Um, I talked to Walter, he said that were going out tonight."

"Yes."

"It's not too fancy, is it?"

"No, what you're wearing now would be fine."

"Good, I hate fancy." She said right before she left.

"What was that all about?" Nikita asked when she was.

"What do you mean?"

"Why didn't you tell me that you were going to dinner with Kathryn tonight? Didn't she say that Walter was going too."

"Yes, so are you and Birkoff."

"We are?"

"Nikita, Today is Kathryn's Birthday."

"What? Why didn't you tell me? I didn't get her anything."

"You don't have to, and the reason that I didn't tell you is that I knew that you would make a big deal about it and Kathryn doesn't like a lot of fuss."

"I still have to get her something, but what?" Nikita said more to herself then to Michael. She got up and was leaving when Michael spoke.

"Nikita, whatever you do, remember keep it small."

"Oh, I will." She said absentmindedly as she left his office. Michael shook his head, wondering what she would come up with.

************

After leaving Michael's office Kathryn went to the training area to workout for a while. No one else was there and she quickly went thought her usual routine. After that she still felt like doing something so she decided to pulverize one of the punching bags. She had been at it for about ten minutes and could feel the sweat running down her skin when she noticed someone standing off to the side. She turned to see Birkoff standing there.

"Hey, Birkoff."

"Hi, um, I'm not interrupting, am I?"

"No, what's up?" He looked around to see if anyone was around before he started.

"Um, You know that were going out tonight and that you'll get any gifts then but I just wanted to give you this now." He said and pulled a small box from his pocket and gave it to her. She took it from him and tried to look at him but he bowed his head. She took the lid off the box and inside was a necklace with a heart shaped locket. She looked at him again and this time he was looking at her.

"Birkoff?"

"Wait, open it first." He said before ducking his head again. She did what he asked and when she saw what was inside her breath caught in her throat. When he heard her gasp he looked up to see tears in her eyes but she quickly blinked them away.

'How did he know' was the only thought going thought Kathryn's head. Inside the locket was a picture of her Mother and Father. She didn't have any pictures of them and hadn't realized till just then how much she wanted one.

"Oh, Birkoff... where did you find them?"

"Their files were still in the computers, it was easy if you knew were to look."

"Thank you" she said as she stepped forward to hug him. She felt him stiffen before lightly hugging her back. " Oh, I'm sorry" she said as she pulled back. "I'm getting you all sweaty." Then she lean down to pick up a towel to dry off and missed the blush that spread over Birkoff's face

"Well, um, I got to get back to work. Um, I'm glad you like it. See you tonight." He said then left.

************

After that Kathryn walked in to the locket room to shower. She walked out twenty minutes later with Birkoff's locket around her neck. She walked over to the computer and for once he wasn't there. She sat down in one of the chairs, just letting her mind drift when a shadow appeared over her. She looked up to see Operations standing there.

"Do you know where Birkoff went?" He asked

"No, He wasn't here when I sat down."

"Could you look and tell me where we are on the Casen mission?"

"Sure" She said as she rolled over to another computer. "Um, It says that Johnson reported in an hour ago - no change."

"Thank you" He said and left before she could turn around. When she turned around to roll back to where she was, she noticed a small elegantly wrapped box. She looked at it, then around to see if anybody was there, then up to Operations office. She could see him just sitting down at his desk. She stared at the box again, in her twenty years of life Operations had never given her a present. She picked it up and slowly opened it.

When she saw what was in it, her mouth dropped open a little. On the end of a long chain was a char of two heart intertwined. She pick it up and let it twirl on the chain, it was beautiful. On the back she saw an inscription but couldn't make it out. It didn't look like any language that she knew.

She stood up and slowly mounted the stairs to Operations office. She stood in front of the door a moment before knocking.

"Come in" She opened the door and took a step inside. He looked up at her.

"I-I wanted to say thank you for the gift." She said as she held up the chain.

"You're welcome. Do...you like it?" He asked as he came around to the front of his desk

"Oh, yes, it's beautiful, Sir."

"It belonged to my wife. I gave it to her on our wedding day." Kathryn looked up at him in shock.

"Oh, Sir, If it belonged to your wife I can't take it."

"You're not taking it, I'm giving it to you." Kathryn ducked her head as she tried to make sense out of the confusion going thought her mind. She looked at the charm in her hands.

"Sir, If you don't mind me asking, what the inscription say? I don't recognize the language." He looked down then as a smile came to his lips.

"It say 'Los Seea Dos' and it's not a real language. My wife liked to write and for one story she wanted an ancient language but she didn't know any so she made it up. It was a love story so it means 'I love you'. When we didn't want any one to know what we were saying to each other we'd use that." By now his eye's and voice had gotten a far away quality to them and she was sure that he was lost in his memories.

"Well, thank you Sir." She was about to leave when she thought of something. "Um, Sir, if it belonged to your wife, won't Stephen recognize it?"

"What do you mean? Why would he recog-" He started to say but she cut him off.

"You have the same eyes, Sir." He just stared at her, while she continued "And sometime, when your deep in thought you both have the same look on you face. That and other things that you both do would have given it away, but everyone knows that you were a prisoner in Viet Nam and what he's told me about his father, well it was easy."

"Yeah, I guess it would be." He said softly "I don't think that Stephen would recognize it, My wife gave it to me to take to Viet Nam, as a remembrance, Stephen was only seven."

"Okay, well, Like I said thank you."

"You're welcome."

She left and sat down at the briefing table, thinking through ever thing that had happened so far. Madeline was right, just being here on today does make a lot of difference, she thought.

"Hey, Kathryn!" Nikita said coming up to her.

"Hey, Nikita, what's up?"

"Michael told me that today was your Birthday, Happy birthday."

'Thank you."

"Anyway since he just told me today I didn't get you anything."

"It doesn't matter it me, Nikita"

"Well, it does to me, so how about I take you out shopping?" Kathryn looked at her watch, She didn't have any plans and there was still a whole lot of time till they went out for dinner.

"Okay, Let's go." She said as she got up, then they walked out of Section together.

***********

After they got back from shopping, Kathryn went back to her apartment for a while. She put in one of the CDs, that Nikita had insisted that she had to buy as a birthday present,and laid down on the couch. She had slight headache from walking around the mall so much and combined with the music she quickly fell asleep. When she woke up it was 7:30 and she rushed to her room to get ready.

After a quick shower, she put on a pair of black jeans and a black velvet shirt. Then she ran a brush through her hair before putting it up in a braid. She had grabbed her shoes and was putting them on in the living room, when there was a knock on the door. She looked at her watch and saw that it was 7:45.

'That's probably Michael.' she thought since she assumed that she would ride with Michael and Nikita, but when she open the door her mouth dropped open slightly what she saw.

"Walter?" She asked in shock

"What's a matter?" He asked when she didn't say anything "Don't you like it?"

"I do, it's just that I don't think that I've ever seen you without a bandanna." He was wearing a pair of tan dress pants and a burgundy button up shirt. His hair was combed back and in a braid also.

"Man, Walter, If I didn't have Stephen." She said jokingly.

"Oh, Sweets, don't give me any ideas, I've got enough of my own." He said with a smile.

"I take it that your here because I'm riding with you."

"Yes, would you do me the honor of allowing me to escort you to your birthday dinner?" He asked as he extended his arm gallantly.

"It would be my pleasure, but Walter, before we go I need to put my shoes on." He looked down at her sock clad feet

"That would probably be a good idea."

Twenty minutes later they arrived at the restaurant. Michael, Nikita and Birkoff were already there. They sat down and as dinner was served they talked and had a good time. After the waiter took the dishes away, another one brought out a cake and put it in front of Kathryn. She stared at it.

"I thought you said it was just dinner?" She asked Walter

"It is, this is desert."

"Oh, that makes it just fine."

"Yes, it does. Now blow out the candles." She did and after everyone got a piece of cake, Walter reached down next to him and pulled up a box and handed it to her. When she took it from him she noticed that the humorous glint that was always there was replaced with a serious one.

She opened the box to find a bracelet made out of a piece of metal about an inch and a half wide. It wasn't a complete circle, it had a space on the bottom to slip her arm through. Carved in it was shape with numbers under them. The first one was a baby bottle, under it was 5-3-78. Then "Daddy" with 8-15-78, then a shoe with 6-21-79. When she saw that she realized that it was her firsts. It started when she was born, then her first word and her first step, all the way to her training.

"Oh, Walter, it's beautiful, but what's this on the end?" She asked pointing to a small indentation.

"It's a tracker, the strongest that I could come up with. You push in that spot to active it. The signal will get through anything, no matter where in the world you are, if you're in trouble, or if you get...taken again, I'll be able to get you out."

"Walter, thank you" she said as she got up and kissed his cheek.

"And so you won't need the tracker" Walter said as he handed her another box. This time the humorous glint had returned, so she open the box carefully. When she saw what it was she laughed.

"Funny Walter. A can of Mace?"

"You can never be too careful, there are a lot of demented people out there."

"You would know, Walter." Nikita joked

"Hey, I might like some fun, but I'm not that bad" He said with mock hurt in his voice then he seemed to consider for and moment the said "Well, maybe I am."

Birkoff smiled, then stood up and handed Kathryn a present. As she took it, she made eye contact with him. In his eye she saw his request to keep his earlier gift quiet, she did and opened this one in silence. It was a book that she had said that she wanted. When she thanked him her eyes thanked him again for the other one.

The only one left was Michael. She took the gift that he handed her and slowly opened it. When she saw what it was she looked at him.

"Michael, I can't.....you said..."

"I want you to have it."

"But you said that it was your favorite!"

"It is, but I don't need it anymore" Here his eyes flickered to Nikita. "and I think it will be safe with you."

Kathryn pick up the book of poems. After her parents died, she had stayed with Michael and Simone. She couldn't sleep at first and when she did she had nightmares. When that happened Michael would read to her out of this book. He had said that it helped him with his nightmares or when ever something that Section made him do was bothering him. Which is why he looked to Nikita when he said that he didn't need it anymore, she helped him with that now.

"Thank you" She said as hugged him. After that the check was paid and they left. Birkoff went with Walter and she rode home with Michael and Nikita.

************

The three of them were walking down the hall to their apartments, when they got there Michael hugged Kathryn one more time and then went into Nikita's apartment. Nikita squeezed her shoulder and with a big smile said "have fun" before going into the apartment herself.

Kathryn looked at her in confusion for a second before going into her apartment. When she open the door she heard the CD she was listing to earlier playing. She didn't leave it on did she? She took a step in the door and stopped. There were a bunch of candles lit, and sitting on the couch was Stephen.

"Hi" She said brightly when she saw him. "When did you get back?"

"A little while ago. Why didn't you tell me?" He asked as he stood up

"What?"

"Nikita, called me this morning. She told it was your birthday. Why didn't you tell me before I left that today was your birthday?"

"Would you have gone?"

"Of course not."

"That's why I didn't tell you. Plus, I don't mind if you go places Stephen, I just want you to come back." By now they were slightly swaying to the music.

"I'll always come back. But since I didn't know I didn't get you anything."

"That's okay, I can think of something."

"Yeah, and what is that?"

"Well, you could just get me something tomorrow."

"Or?"

"Or you could take me upstairs and make love to me all night."

"I think I'll take the second option." He said as he reached down, took hold of her hands, then lacing his fingers in hers, took her into the bedroom.

"Happy Birthday, Kathryn." He said as he started to kiss her.

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