The safehouse kitchen smelled like burnt garlic bread and panic.

Dominic stood on a chair trying to tape a crooked birthday banner across the cabinets while Kane shouted conflicting instructions from below.

“Left.”

“I AM GOING LEFT.”

“Your other left.”

“This is workplace sabotage.”

The banner sagged lower.

Sofia walked in, looked at it once, then grabbed coffee without commenting.

Honestly worse.

Evie sat cross-legged on the counter writing PARTY SUPPLIES on the back of an old mission briefing.

Underneath it:

cake

candles

plates

emotional support alcohol

no grenades

Dominic looked offended immediately.

“One grenade.”

“No.”

“Tiny grenade.”

“No explosives near the cake.”

“That feels anti-fun.”

Kane pointed upward.

“The boss once broke a guy’s wrist for lighting fireworks indoors.”

Dominic thought about that.

“…Fair.”

Evie looked up from the list.

“Wait. Seriously?”

Sofia nodded calmly.

“Bathroom fireworks.”

“That somehow makes more sense.”

Rain rattled softly against the reinforced windows.

The safehouse felt warmer tonight.

Louder too.

Music drifted from somebody’s speaker upstairs while Luca argued with the bakery over speakerphone.

“No, I said black frosting. BLACK. Not navy blue.”

A pause.

“No, there’s emotional difference.”

Evie grabbed the marker again.

“Okay. Important question.”

Kane already looked tired.

“That sentence never leads anywhere stable.”

“What kind of birthday cake would Cassian hate the least?”

Silence.

Everybody stopped moving.

Dominic answered first.

“Black Forest.”

Kane pointed immediately.

“Oh my God, yes.”

Sofia sipped coffee.

“He does look like a Black Forest cake.”

Evie stared at them.

“…Why do you all know that instantly?”

Kane spread both hands.

“Look at him.”

Fair.

Very fair.

Luca finally walked back into the kitchen holding his phone.

“Cake’s done.”

“Did you order candles?” Evie asked.

“Yes.”

“What kind?”

Luca went quiet.

Too quiet.

Evie narrowed her eyes.

“What kind of candles?”

“…Sparkler candles.”

Kane dropped his head directly onto the table.

“Oh no.”

Dominic looked delighted.

“Oh absolutely yes.”

Sofia physically closed her eyes.

“Why would you bring fireworks into this building again?”

“They’re festive.”

“They’re explosive.”

“Festively explosive.”

Evie grabbed the marker off the counter and pointed at Luca.

“If Cassian kills us tonight, I need you to know this was your fault specifically.”

By seven-thirty, the safehouse looked like emotionally unstable Pinterest.

The banner still hung crooked.

The balloons kept drifting into tactical lighting fixtures.

Someone accidentally put party hats beside loaded magazines.

Evie walked through the living room carrying the cake box carefully.

Kane followed behind her whispering like they were hiding a body.

“Do we sing?”

“Yes.”

“What if he leaves?”

“We block the exits.”

“That feels aggressive.”

“He’s survived gunfire. He can survive friendship.”

Dominic appeared from nowhere holding balloons.

“I still think the hats improve morale.”

“No hats.”

“Cowards.”

Evie opened the cake box slowly on the kitchen island.

Everyone leaned closer.

Black frosting.

Dark cherries.

Clean white lettering:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GHOST

Kane looked emotional.

“That’s weirdly sweet.”

“Don’t cry,” Sofia said immediately.

“I’m not crying.”

“You cried during Fast & Furious 7.”

“THAT WAS ABOUT FAMILY.”

Footsteps sounded upstairs.

Everybody froze instantly.

Kane whispered:

“Oh no. Positions.”

“That is not how surprise parties work,” Evie hissed.

“Too late.”

Lights switched off.

The safehouse dropped into darkness except for the candles flickering across the cake.

Someone bumped into a chair.

Dominic whispered:

“Was that tactical?”

“No,” Sofia whispered back, “that was you walking into furniture.”

Footsteps reached the staircase.

Slow.

Steady.

Cassian came downstairs still wearing black tactical clothes, one glove half-pulled off like somebody interrupted him mid-cleaning.

He stopped at the bottom stair immediately.

The room stayed dead silent for one terrible second.

Then everybody yelled at different times:

“Surprise.”

“SURPRISE.”

“Happy birthday.”

“Don’t look at the banner too long.”

Cassian didn’t move.

The candlelight flickered across his face while he looked slowly around the room.

Balloons.

Crooked decorations.

Dominic still holding tape.

Kane visibly sweating under pressure.

Then the cake.

Cassian looked at the cake for a long moment.

Nobody spoke.

Not even Kane.

Which honestly felt medically concerning.

Evie stepped forward first.

Not joking this time.

Just holding the cake box edge lightly with frosting on one finger.

“You don’t have to do anything,” she said.

Cassian looked at her.

Evie shrugged once.

“We just thought twelve years was kinda depressing.”

Silence again.

Then Kane cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Also Luca spent thirty minutes arguing about frosting color.”

“Forty,” Luca corrected.

Cassian looked back toward the cake.

Still quiet.

Still standing there like his body forgot what birthday parties were supposed to look like.

Then his eyes stopped briefly on the banner.

The crooked one.

One side hanging lower than the other.

Dominic noticed immediately.

“It’s artistic.”

“It’s falling down,” Sofia said.

“Art takes risks.”

Cassian stared at the banner another second.

Then—

very carefully—

set his coffee cup down on the counter.

Small movement.

Quiet.

But everybody in the room noticed it.

Kane looked like he might pass out emotionally.

Evie caught herself smiling before she could stop it.

Cassian looked toward the candles again.

“You bought sparklers.”

Luca straightened instantly.

“They were on sale.”

“That explains nothing.”

“They’re festive.”

Cassian closed his eyes briefly.

Tiny pause.

Then:

“…This is excessive.”

Evie pointed at him immediately.

“Nope. That sentence means you secretly like it.”

“I did not say that.”

“You didn’t leave either.”

Kane made a strangled noise behind them.

Cassian looked at the cake one more time.

Then finally reached for the plastic knife beside the box.

The whole room exploded instantly.

“Oh my God.”

“HE’S CUTTING THE CAKE.”

“Someone document this historically.”

Dominic actually started clapping.

Cassian stopped halfway through grabbing the knife.

“…Why are you all reacting like I returned from war?”

Kane looked deeply sincere.

“Boss, emotionally? You kinda did.”