Elizabeth Weir sat up in bed, her hand threading through the long red hair currently cascading across her hip. When she'd left Simon to come here; when she'd left him again to come back; she still hadn't quite expected things to go the way that they had. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined waking up in bed with someone who was technically under her command come Christmas morning.

"I think I went a little too heavy on the Manischewitz…" Kate groaned, her hand sliding up Elizabeth's leg before pressing firmly against her temple.

Elizabeth's soft chuckle only prompted another moan from the woman. Scooting back down under the covers, Elizabeth reached over and gently massaged Kate's shoulders.

"That excuse might work for you, but somehow I'm thinking it won't work for me." Elizabeth whispered against Kate's skin as she worked her way up to her ear, planting soft, soothing kisses.

Kate's head leaned back, resting against Elizabeth's shoulder and Elizabeth caught the cocky grin that touched her features. "You're assuming I'm looking for an excuse to blame last night on… when in fact, I was looking for one to explain away the massive headache I have this morning."

Elizabeth smiled, her teeth lightly nipping at Kate's shoulder. "There's this doctor I know. She once told me about the perfect cure for headaches."

"Oh? Did she now?"

Kate's head turned and just as their lips were about to meet she whispered, "Merry Christmas, Elizabeth."

The kiss was slow and relaxed, unlike the hurried kisses of the night before. When they broke, Elizabeth's hands cupped Kate's head as she traced across the line of the other woman's chin. "How's Hanukkah going for you so far?"

Kate's laugh turned into a hissed groan, as Elizabeth's journey continued. "I'm thinking it's about to get a whole lot better, actually."

This wasn't Teyla's first 'Christmas' with the Atlantis expedition. This wasn't her first experience with cultures that have holidays that she was previously unfamiliar with. And as much as the customs and traditions are still sometimes odd to her, she learned long ago to relax and go with the flow. She's adaptable.

This is the first year that she thinks she's looking forward to it with as much enthusiasm – sometimes more – than the rest of the expedition.

The traditions still throw her a bit, as well as the complexity and simplicity that there is to so many of them. The conflicting beliefs of a people that share the same world is also new to her. So it was really of no surprise to her that the decision of the 'perfect Christmas present' was so difficult for most.

She thought that she knew John pretty well though. She thought that it should be easy for her to decide on what to give him. So the fact that it most definitely was not an easy decision confused her.

She wondered if the difficulty with which you pick out a present for a person is directly related to the importance that person has to you. Then she wondered if her time on Atlantis had exposed her to the likes of McKay just a bit too much to have her overanalyzing all of this.

She wasn't expecting to walk into her quarters and find an unfamiliar plant hanging from her ceiling.

Staring up, trying to figure out how the plant had managed to find its way into her quarters, Teyla missed the movement off to her side until it was almost too late.

Quickly sweeping her leg off to her left and easily taking the intruder to the ground, Teyla braced herself over the body, her hand at the man's throat before she took a moment to identify him.

John laughed. The smile on his face an unexpected sight. "So, this isn't exactly how I imagined getting you under the mistletoe this evening, but I think it will do."

Shaking her head as the thought of how incredibly crazy this man is flashed through her mind, Teyla lowered her head and kissed him. Yes, humans were odd and unpredictable, but sometimes you just had to go with the flow.

Samantha Carter was supposed to be in Minnesota right about now.

She was supposed to be sitting on the couch, in front of the fire, with a steaming cup of cocoa in her hands. She was supposed to be nestled next to her former commanding officer, thinking about how much sleep she wasn't going to be getting on her holiday leave.

Thanks to the Wraith, that wouldn't be happening.

She should be used to it by now. She should know not to get her hopes up too much because the fate of the universe will always manage to come into question and bite any plans that she's made squarely on the ass.

So the announcement of an unscheduled off-world activation of the Atlantis gate only made her place her head in her hands and rub her temples before getting up from her desk and heading out of her office.

"What do we have, Chuck?"

"It's a transmission from Midway, Ma'am. They say they have a passenger. Top priority."

Sam sighed, "Put them through."

Her holiday was going to suck anyway, she might as well have an IOA representative here to make sure it didn't start to look up.

As she made her way down to the gate platform, she pushed all thoughts of a warm fire in a cabin in Minnesota out of her thoughts. There was no point in dwelling on ruined plans.

When one General Jack O'Neill came walking through the gate with a duffel slung over his shoulder and a shit-eating grin on his face Sam knew she was in trouble.

"General, sir." She saluted crisply, knowing that all eyes were squarely on the two of them. "Sorry that the Wraith apparently ruined your holiday plans."

Jack shrugged, handing his duffel off to an airman. "Egh, when you've been with the program as long as we have, Carter, you learn that plans need to be flexible."

Sam smiled, maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Besides, Minnesota got hit with a massive blizzard three days ago, I never would have made it up to my cabin."

Following Jack as he walked out of the control tower and down a hallway – the hallway that just happened to lead to her quarters – Sam wondered if maybe forces that were out of their control were conspiring in their favor for once.

"It would be such a shame," he stopped outside her quarters and waited for her to enter, "being all stocked up to head to the cabin, and get stuck at some horrible pay-by-the-hour hotel along a stretch of snow-covered highway."

"Terrible."

Jack's hand moved from his pocket to take her hand, pulling her closer in the process. "But, you know, I figure it would be such a shame to waste all that perfectly good time off."

"So you pulled some strings and went to Midway?"

One hand cupped her cheek while the other settled at the small of her back, holding her close to him. "Being general has its bonus points, you know. I can do almost anything."

"Almost?"

"Uh huh."

She smiled as they inched closer, their lips just barely brushing against each other when she pulled back. "Within reason."

"Within reason." He smiled, their lips connecting as he pulled her into a deep kiss.

The universe had thrown them yet another curve ball, but it was definitely shaping up to be far from the worst Christmas she'd had on record.

"So... just how far can we push 'reason'?"

Jack pulled her impossibly closer. "The Wraith have quieted down for the time, yes?"

She nodded her head, his jacket slipping easily from his shoulders as she stepped backwards, leading the way toward her bed.

"And they can manage without you in the control tower for a bit, right?"

"Hours."

"Excellent." Jack smiled as they both fell onto the mattress.