The Night Before Christmas In Atlantis
This is my little fic for the Sparky advent calendar. Just a slight twist on an old tale. Hope you like it. Merry Christmas.
The Night Before Christmas in Atlantis
Startled awake by his door chimes, John Sheppard stumbled out of bed and rushed to answer, certain that someone must be in desperate trouble.
When the door slid open and Elizabeth Weir rushed inside, John alternated between wanting to look out into the corridor to determine if she was being chased and wanting to laugh at the sight of her.
Red flannel pajamas decorated all over with candy canes and fluffy green socks with an elf design were not what John was used to seeing on his boss.
“Elizabeth?” he said as she grabbed his arm and seemed to be attempting to tell him something that she couldn’t quite get out, “are you all right?”
“John,” she finally managed after catching her breath, “I think we may be under attack. I saw something, something big.”
John was instantly alert and all business. “Is it the Wraith? Where were they?”
John shoved his bare feet into his discarded shoes, not bothering with the laces, and grabbed his sidearm, which he buckled on over his sweatpants, as he began heading for the door.
Elizabeth was waving her hands and pointing upwards. “I was out on my balcony right before getting into bed, and there was a big...thing... that came sort of whooshing out of the sky. It was long and...had...a back part and then a bunch of little parts in front.”
John headed for the nearest balcony to take his own look around, leaving Elizabeth to scurry down the hall behind him. Elizabeth’s thick socks slid a bit on the slippery hallway floor as she came to a sudden halt, almost crashing into him, when John stopped abruptly and looked back at her.
“A thing...whooshing? Could you maybe be a little more specific? Do you mean a dart?”
Elizabeth shook her head and waved her hands some more. “No, no, not a dart. Darts whine. They don’t whoosh.”
John sighed in exasperation and motioned for her to stay behind him as he headed out onto the balcony.
“Well, I don’t see or hear anything.” John’s head turned from side to side as he studied the night sky and the still surface of the ocean below. Nothing was moving and not a sound could be heard. The two visible moons were both full, and their reflections on the water made it seem almost as bright as day.
Elizabeth stepped up beside him and craned her neck to look up at the adjacent towers. “Well, it’s gone now.”
“Tell me again what this thing looked like.”
Still now, Elizabeth began to shuffle her feet and shift her eyes away from John’s.
“Elizabeth?”
“ItlookedlikeSanta’ssleigh.”
“What? I didn’t quite hear you.”
Elizabeth lifted her head and squared her shoulders. “For just a moment, I could have sworn it looked a bit like Santa’s sleigh.”
“Santa’s...”
“Sleigh. You know, with the eight tiny reindeer.”
“Is this some kind of a...you’re kidding, right?”
Elizabeth shook her head. “Surely someone else must have seen or heard it.”
“It’s the middle of the night. Everyone is sound asleep, except probably Rodney and the Marines on guard, and they would have radioed me. So, unless they were out on a balcony, nobody saw a thing.”
The night air was chilly, unusual for Atlantis, but the weather had been strange for the last week. Teyla had reported snow flurries on the mainland, which caused no end of excitement among the Athosians, but otherwise, things had been quiet.
John walked with Elizabeth back to her room and made her promise to get some rest. “You’re probably just overworked as usual. You know that can do strange things to your head.”
“Yeah, I know. I must be imagining things, but I swear it was so real.”
“Well, you know you have been involved with the Christmas preparations a lot.” John stopped and scratched the back of his head when Elizabeth narrowed her eyes and glared in his direction.
“I’m just sayin’.”
“If what you’re saying is that I’m hallucinating,” Elizabeth said, “then you can just...”
“What was that?” John whirled around, almost tripping over his untied shoelaces.
“It sounded like a thump.” Elizabeth lowered the hand that she had just raised to trigger her door and followed John over to a nearby window.
They both looked out once again over the towers of the city. A few lights were burning here and there, but otherwise, all was dark except the lights on the pier below.
“Okay, now that’s just weird.” John’s nose was pressed almost against the glass in his attempt to get a better look.
“What?” Elizabeth crowded in beside him and looked where he was pointing.
Far below them on the flat surface of the east pier, a strange craft had settled in a somewhat awkward landing. It wasn’t exactly Santa’s sleigh, but the configuration was similar, some sort of open vehicle in which sat what appeared to be a rather large person swathed head to foot in reddish fur that glimmered in the moonlight. In front of the contraption were two rows of four-legged animals of an unidentifiable breed. Not reindeer. Definitely not reindeer, but close enough to be a Pegasus cousin.
John and Elizabeth looked at each other for a long moment and then back at the sight before them.
And then the strange configuration sprang into action. The two observers watched in fascination as the visitor took to the air, threading in and out of the towers in a way that made John slightly envious, before disappearing into the sky.
“Well...” Elizabeth began before John put a hand on her arm to stop her.
“Let’s never speak of this again,” he said, his voice breaking slightly.
“Works for me.” Elizabeth rubbed her palms briskly down the sides of her flannel clad legs and looked down at herself as if suddenly realizing what she was wearing.
“So, I guess I’ll just...um...” Elizabeth gestured towards her room.
Hands on his hips, John glanced once more out the window and then back at Elizabeth. “You know,” he began, “There’s a bottle of Scotch that Caldwell gave me back in my quarters.”
One raised eyebrow told Elizabeth he was waiting for her response.
“Single malt?”
“You betcha.”
“I’ve got glasses.”
“Back in a minute.” John scurried away, shoelaces flapping, and Elizabeth hurried into her room, while over the sleeping city, in an ancient language, their visitor bid them all a good night.
Epilogue
“So, what do you believe in, John?” Elizabeth raised her drink to her lips and gazed over the rim of her glass.
John took a hefty swallow of his own Scotch and lowered his glass to his knee.
“What do I believe in? Besides Santa Claus, you mean?”
Elizabeth smiled and dipped her head.
They were sitting at opposite ends of the small sofa in her quarters, comfortable together, with the moonlight streaming in through the window. Elizabeth sat with her legs tucked underneath her, and John slouched in the corner.
“I believe in aliens,” John began, and warming to his subject, continued in a rush. “I believe in flying cities shaped like a snowflake, time travel, alternate universes, and monsters.”
Encouraged by Elizabeth’s expression, that revealed exactly what, he wasn’t quite sure of, John went on. “I also believe in friends, second chances, faster than light space travel, and things that can turn you into a bug if you’re not careful.”
Elizabeth laughed out loud at that and looked pensively into her drink while John seemed to be thinking.
“What do you believe in, Elizabeth?”
The question seemed to surprise her, even though she must have known it was coming. The moment stretched out, and John took another mouthful of Scotch and finding his throat strangely tight, almost choked before swallowing it in an eye-watering gulp.
“You.” Elizabeth’s answer was so quiet, John wasn’t sure he had heard correctly.
“Excuse me?”
“You,” she repeated louder. “I believe in you. I believe that you will always be there to save us at the last possible moment before the unthinkable happens. I believe that you will never get bored and leave us for a better assignment. I believe that you will...” She paused for a moment and refused to meet his eyes.
John straightened and set his glass aside.
“I believe that you will always come back to us.” Elizabeth punctuated her last statement with a decisive nod, finally turning her eyes back to John’s.
Without breaking eye contact, John picked up his glass and clinked it against hers. A montage of humorous comments passed over his mind, but he discarded them all as inappropriate for the moment.
“There is nothing...” John stopped to clear his throat. “Nothing in this or any universe that will stop me from coming home. You must know that.”
Elizabeth flashed John that sideways smile that sometimes made him feel like he could take on the world and come out on top.
“Merry Christmas, John,” she said as she lifted her glass in his direction.
“Merry Christmas, Elizabeth.”
The Night Before Christmas in Atlantis
Startled awake by his door chimes, John Sheppard stumbled out of bed and rushed to answer, certain that someone must be in desperate trouble.
When the door slid open and Elizabeth Weir rushed inside, John alternated between wanting to look out into the corridor to determine if she was being chased and wanting to laugh at the sight of her.
Red flannel pajamas decorated all over with candy canes and fluffy green socks with an elf design were not what John was used to seeing on his boss.
“Elizabeth?” he said as she grabbed his arm and seemed to be attempting to tell him something that she couldn’t quite get out, “are you all right?”
“John,” she finally managed after catching her breath, “I think we may be under attack. I saw something, something big.”
John was instantly alert and all business. “Is it the Wraith? Where were they?”
John shoved his bare feet into his discarded shoes, not bothering with the laces, and grabbed his sidearm, which he buckled on over his sweatpants, as he began heading for the door.
Elizabeth was waving her hands and pointing upwards. “I was out on my balcony right before getting into bed, and there was a big...thing... that came sort of whooshing out of the sky. It was long and...had...a back part and then a bunch of little parts in front.”
John headed for the nearest balcony to take his own look around, leaving Elizabeth to scurry down the hall behind him. Elizabeth’s thick socks slid a bit on the slippery hallway floor as she came to a sudden halt, almost crashing into him, when John stopped abruptly and looked back at her.
“A thing...whooshing? Could you maybe be a little more specific? Do you mean a dart?”
Elizabeth shook her head and waved her hands some more. “No, no, not a dart. Darts whine. They don’t whoosh.”
John sighed in exasperation and motioned for her to stay behind him as he headed out onto the balcony.
“Well, I don’t see or hear anything.” John’s head turned from side to side as he studied the night sky and the still surface of the ocean below. Nothing was moving and not a sound could be heard. The two visible moons were both full, and their reflections on the water made it seem almost as bright as day.
Elizabeth stepped up beside him and craned her neck to look up at the adjacent towers. “Well, it’s gone now.”
“Tell me again what this thing looked like.”
Still now, Elizabeth began to shuffle her feet and shift her eyes away from John’s.
“Elizabeth?”
“ItlookedlikeSanta’ssleigh.”
“What? I didn’t quite hear you.”
Elizabeth lifted her head and squared her shoulders. “For just a moment, I could have sworn it looked a bit like Santa’s sleigh.”
“Santa’s...”
“Sleigh. You know, with the eight tiny reindeer.”
“Is this some kind of a...you’re kidding, right?”
Elizabeth shook her head. “Surely someone else must have seen or heard it.”
“It’s the middle of the night. Everyone is sound asleep, except probably Rodney and the Marines on guard, and they would have radioed me. So, unless they were out on a balcony, nobody saw a thing.”
The night air was chilly, unusual for Atlantis, but the weather had been strange for the last week. Teyla had reported snow flurries on the mainland, which caused no end of excitement among the Athosians, but otherwise, things had been quiet.
John walked with Elizabeth back to her room and made her promise to get some rest. “You’re probably just overworked as usual. You know that can do strange things to your head.”
“Yeah, I know. I must be imagining things, but I swear it was so real.”
“Well, you know you have been involved with the Christmas preparations a lot.” John stopped and scratched the back of his head when Elizabeth narrowed her eyes and glared in his direction.
“I’m just sayin’.”
“If what you’re saying is that I’m hallucinating,” Elizabeth said, “then you can just...”
“What was that?” John whirled around, almost tripping over his untied shoelaces.
“It sounded like a thump.” Elizabeth lowered the hand that she had just raised to trigger her door and followed John over to a nearby window.
They both looked out once again over the towers of the city. A few lights were burning here and there, but otherwise, all was dark except the lights on the pier below.
“Okay, now that’s just weird.” John’s nose was pressed almost against the glass in his attempt to get a better look.
“What?” Elizabeth crowded in beside him and looked where he was pointing.
Far below them on the flat surface of the east pier, a strange craft had settled in a somewhat awkward landing. It wasn’t exactly Santa’s sleigh, but the configuration was similar, some sort of open vehicle in which sat what appeared to be a rather large person swathed head to foot in reddish fur that glimmered in the moonlight. In front of the contraption were two rows of four-legged animals of an unidentifiable breed. Not reindeer. Definitely not reindeer, but close enough to be a Pegasus cousin.
John and Elizabeth looked at each other for a long moment and then back at the sight before them.
And then the strange configuration sprang into action. The two observers watched in fascination as the visitor took to the air, threading in and out of the towers in a way that made John slightly envious, before disappearing into the sky.
“Well...” Elizabeth began before John put a hand on her arm to stop her.
“Let’s never speak of this again,” he said, his voice breaking slightly.
“Works for me.” Elizabeth rubbed her palms briskly down the sides of her flannel clad legs and looked down at herself as if suddenly realizing what she was wearing.
“So, I guess I’ll just...um...” Elizabeth gestured towards her room.
Hands on his hips, John glanced once more out the window and then back at Elizabeth. “You know,” he began, “There’s a bottle of Scotch that Caldwell gave me back in my quarters.”
One raised eyebrow told Elizabeth he was waiting for her response.
“Single malt?”
“You betcha.”
“I’ve got glasses.”
“Back in a minute.” John scurried away, shoelaces flapping, and Elizabeth hurried into her room, while over the sleeping city, in an ancient language, their visitor bid them all a good night.
Epilogue
“So, what do you believe in, John?” Elizabeth raised her drink to her lips and gazed over the rim of her glass.
John took a hefty swallow of his own Scotch and lowered his glass to his knee.
“What do I believe in? Besides Santa Claus, you mean?”
Elizabeth smiled and dipped her head.
They were sitting at opposite ends of the small sofa in her quarters, comfortable together, with the moonlight streaming in through the window. Elizabeth sat with her legs tucked underneath her, and John slouched in the corner.
“I believe in aliens,” John began, and warming to his subject, continued in a rush. “I believe in flying cities shaped like a snowflake, time travel, alternate universes, and monsters.”
Encouraged by Elizabeth’s expression, that revealed exactly what, he wasn’t quite sure of, John went on. “I also believe in friends, second chances, faster than light space travel, and things that can turn you into a bug if you’re not careful.”
Elizabeth laughed out loud at that and looked pensively into her drink while John seemed to be thinking.
“What do you believe in, Elizabeth?”
The question seemed to surprise her, even though she must have known it was coming. The moment stretched out, and John took another mouthful of Scotch and finding his throat strangely tight, almost choked before swallowing it in an eye-watering gulp.
“You.” Elizabeth’s answer was so quiet, John wasn’t sure he had heard correctly.
“Excuse me?”
“You,” she repeated louder. “I believe in you. I believe that you will always be there to save us at the last possible moment before the unthinkable happens. I believe that you will never get bored and leave us for a better assignment. I believe that you will...” She paused for a moment and refused to meet his eyes.
John straightened and set his glass aside.
“I believe that you will always come back to us.” Elizabeth punctuated her last statement with a decisive nod, finally turning her eyes back to John’s.
Without breaking eye contact, John picked up his glass and clinked it against hers. A montage of humorous comments passed over his mind, but he discarded them all as inappropriate for the moment.
“There is nothing...” John stopped to clear his throat. “Nothing in this or any universe that will stop me from coming home. You must know that.”
Elizabeth flashed John that sideways smile that sometimes made him feel like he could take on the world and come out on top.
“Merry Christmas, John,” she said as she lifted her glass in his direction.
“Merry Christmas, Elizabeth.”