HOLIDAY GREETINGS
Jack O'Neill sauntered into Sam Carter's lab to find her bent over her desk, writing busily.
"Hey, Carter," he greeted cheerfully.
After a moment she responded, but didn't raise her head from her task. "Hi, sir."
He ambled over and leaned on the lab table. "Whatcha doin'?"
"I'm writing Holiday cards, sir."
"Hm," he grunted. "Ya mean like… Christmas cards?"
"Yes. And cards for Hannukah, Kwanza, Winter Solstice celebration, Boxing Day and New Years." She grinned up at him, folded the note she'd been writing and put it in an envelope, which she added to a pile that were already addressed.
Jack peered at the stack and reached for the top envelope just as Daniel Jackson and Teal'c walked into the room.
"Hi, guys," Daniel said. "What's going on?"
"It appears that Samantha is engaged in a serious task," Teal'c observed solemnly.
"Carter's doing Christmas cards," Jack informed them, distracted for the moment from the envelope in his hand.
"Holiday cards, sir," Sam corrected him as she picked up another piece of notepaper. "Not everyone celebrates Christmas."
"That's right, Jack," Daniel put in, seeing a perfect opportunity for a cultural lecture. "In fact, only about 45% of people in the world actually…"
"Yeah, never mind, Daniel." Jack was staring at the envelope. "Carter, who are these people you're sending cards to?" He flipped through the stack. "dpdp? PatriciaS? Irelandfaith1118? Kahuna? A Rae Lin? TamaraJagellovsk? Yol? lauriesf?" He raised his head to give her a puzzled stare.
Sam laughed. "Those are just a few of the loyal people who are keeping us alive, sir!"
"What?!"
She reached for the envelopes and read off more names. "LadyMo. Pianomouse. Hifield. Ebineez01. These are some of the talented writers, and faithful readers, on 'FF dot net' that still love us, more than ten years after our show ended! They keep sending us on new adventures and imagining whole lives and loves for us! Why, without them, we'd just be…" She spread her hands and shrugged, unable to find a word.
"Yes, Carter?" Jack prodded. "We'd be what?"
"We'd be ghosts, Jack," Daniel put in. "Just memories." His voice took on a sorrowful note. "After-midnight re-runs."
"Indeed," Teal'c intoned. He bowed his head.
Jack gulped and his eyes widened. "After-midnight re-runs!?" Oh, the horror! His gaze went from one to another of his team mates, finally landing on Sam. "Okay, Carter. You just keep writing! There must be more names on that list!"
"Oh, yes sir. Lots more. There's Apples26 and Schatze8210 and seriousJACKfan and LoneWolfOneill and BlameItOnTheNaquadah and fanka77 and…"
"Keep going," Jack urged. He grabbed one of the blank cards. "Want me to help you write 'em?"
She handed him a pen as she continued with the list. "There's Sevryna and Dozi199 and Moebius2015…"
"Wow..." Daniel commented as he and Teal'c both took up pens and cards and began writing.
"There's also jag389 and Zoser and mmkbrook and ConnieN…" Sam's voice trailed off as she returned to the cards.
Silence fell as SG1 concentrated diligently on their Holiday Greetings!
~x~
The people I have mentioned in this fic are just some of you whose stories I have read and loved over the past years, and who have kindly reviewed my own humble writings on many occasions. Thank you for the enjoyment and support you have provided!
May your Celebrations always be peaceful and loving, and may the New Year bring good things to all!