T'was the night before Christmas,

And all through Atlantis,

The scientists were working.

The med staff was healing.

The marines were all doing missions with care.

Spreading joy and hope to all that could fare.

Weir in her office sipping her cocoa,

Sheppard was training in the gym with Ronon.

Teyla was meditating and relaxing her mind,

While McKay, as usual, was feasting in the mess hall.

Awaiting the presence of good ol' St. Nick,

The Atlantis staff was excited as could be.

Ready to exchange gifts and reminisce under the tree.

As night got later, they all finally slept.

And yet...

While falling asleep one voice could be heard.

"Merry Christmas to all, Happy Holidays Nerds!"

-Author's Note!

**Before we get on with the story, I want to mention that after the party, there's a HUGE smut/lemon scene, which may not be appropriate for younger readers. Please read responsibly.

That said... Happy Holidays, fellow Lanteans!

Kait grinned, smiling around at the well lit, very festively decorated activity hall on Atlantis, listening to the music blare across the room and into the halls, the whole place covered in holly, tinsel, and lights. Sheppard's idea of a party to celebrate Christmas eve had been a really good one.

Chuckling, she got up on a chair, putting a few more Christmas baubles up on the walls, grinning down to the amused but not fully understanding Ronon who was holding the chair steady for her. She purposely hopped off when done, as he caught her and set her on her feet with a shake of his head.

"You just can't do things the simple way, can you?"

"Never." she said, grinning broadly, wrapping the last strand of tinsel around her neck like a very glittery scarf. She weaved her way around the people who were finally all arriving, bobbing her head to the music and smirking. She'd hooked up her music player, which, while having quite a bit of techno, had a ton of other songs, so newer music was flowing through the city, and could be heard loudly for a good portion of it.

She turned to Sheppard as he walked in, carrying more food. "Hey, did you convince tall, nerdy, and broody to come out of Mount Doom and join us? Or is there still going to be another quest to get him to come out of his reclusive little hole?" she asked, as he shook his head.

"McKay said parties aren't his thing, and he doesn't dance. Something about looking like a wounded animal." Sheppard snickered, as she smacked his arm.

"I doubt he put it like that, John." she said, raising her eyebrow at him, but biting back a smirk.

"Well, either way, he's not showing up. And you need to get changed. Remember, civilian clothes for this little get together." he said, wiggling his eyes at her, as she rolled her eyes in return. But, that did remind her, she had bought a great outfit for this on her last trip to Earth through the gate... it was probably time to put it on.

Rodney grumbled as he worked on a piece of tech... everyone else had literally left for this damn party that Sheppard had put on. If he had thrown a Christmas party, first off, no one would have shown up, and second... well, there wouldn't be all that bump and grind music he could hear... he hadn't heard one Christmas song! Literally everything was stupid club music... the one time he had gone to one of those things, he had ended up being the designated driver, and the only one going home alone, so, excuse him if he didn't have wonderful memories of these kinds of suaree's .

As he was about to grab something else to do, having finished tinkering with the other piece of tech, the door opened to the lab.

"Sheppard, I'm not going to your little get together, I have too much other stuff to do." he mumbled. He was already disappointed... Kait had even blown him off to go to this thing... All he wanted to do was spend time quietly tonight...

"Don't lie to me, you finished all your important projects the other day." Kait said with a grin, as Rodney's head whipped around and his eyes focused on her strapless red top and clingy denim jeans, finished off with black leather boots and a damn santa hat on her head.

"I- that's to say... What are you wearing and why?"

"We're going civilian for this thing, didn't Sheppard tell you? I was really hoping I could convince you to come..." she said, quietly.

"I told him this wasn't my kind of thing... I don't dance, really... well, I can, but not like that."

She stared at him incredulously. "Is that all?"

"No! Well, that's most of it, but I also don't feel like getting snickered at behind my back and whatnot... and I'd rather spend the time with you, alone..."

She smiled and placed her arms around his neck. "And I promise, we will... we have all night, and we're all off tomorrow... we can stay up all night, just you and me, in your quarters... I'll hang up mistletoe all over the place and we can figure out new places to kiss every time we stand under a different piece of it." she winked, as he chuckled and stood, wrapping his arms around her.

"Ok, I can't deny that I'm looking forward to that..." he said, with a grin.

"See? Compromise, lover."

He sighed, then nodded in resignation. "Fine, fine..."

She grinned at that, and grabbed his hand, pulling him half-willingly out of the labs to get changed.

By the time they got back, the music was blaring and the place was jumping. Rodney's eyes widened... this place was like a mad house! He began to pull back, but the reassuring hand in his tightened, and he stopped, and sucked in a breath, before walking in with her, headed for the last glimpse he had seen of Teyla.

Reaching the table, Kait grinned, pulling Rodney into the chair beside her. Teyla smiled in genuine surprise.

"Rodney, I'm surprised to see you here!" she said, as Sheppard made his way over and threw himself into a seat, letting out a breath.

"So am I, so what, because I didn't come dressed like that, I get told no? Next time, I'll find something else to wear." he said, as Rodney shot him an annoyed look.

"Yeah, no. I'm 'compromising.'. " he stated simply, as Kait stood. He eyed her nervously, dreading the inevitable question.

"I won't make you dance, or anything, I'm not that evil. You sit and drink some soda or something." she said, grinning as she reached down and grabbed Teyla's hand, pulling the chuckling Athosian to her feet.

"Hey, you're leaving me alone?" he asked, frowning.

"No, I'm dancing with Teyla and Cadman, if I can find her out in this crowd. You're welcome to join us if you wanted." she said, coyly shooting him a look as she tugged Teyla out to the dance floor. Rodney huffed lightly, as Sheppard smirked.

"Don't worry, buddy, I'm taking a break anyways." he said, leaning back a bit in his chair.

"When did Teyla learn our dances anyhow?" Rodney grumbled, as Sheppard shrugged.

"Eh, I think she picked it up watching Kait and Cadman once."

Rolling his eyes at that, because of course she did, Rodney decided to simply watch, as Kait grabbed Cadman's hand and yanked her away from a confused Beckett, as Cadman smirked and followed, a large grin on her face.

Kait grabbed her waist, and the two began moving in a serenade of spins and twirls, giving Teyla a chance to pick up on the moves before she joined in. Hips rocking, backs arching, bodies jumping... Fluffing her hair out, Kait smirked, putting her hands in the air.

Rodney sighed, a small smile forming on his mouth as he watched the three move... mainly focusing on the woman he had been seeing since leaving Sokra. That had been... nearly 6 months ago. When he'd been with Katie Brown, he'd known something was off... he wasn't too pressed to make time for things... This time, he found himself making the time, he wanted to spend more time with her. And she was always popping in to help with his latest new project, whether she could be of real assistance or just grab him some coffee.

"You know... I'm sure you could join her." Sheppard said, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Hm? Oh, well I could, but I don't dance like that." he said, as Sheppard shot him a look.

" 'Like that'? So, how DO you dance?" he asked, giving Rodney a look.

"With more class than a simple bump and grind." he shot back at Sheppard, who simply smirked.

"Prove it."

"What?"

"Prove it, because I think it's a cop out." Sheppard said, leaning back in his chair. Rodney glared, then got up quickly and annoyed.

With a look at Sheppard, he headed for the music station that Kait had obviously rigged up with Zelenka's help. He didn't care WHO he pissed off, he knew she had SOME stuff on her stupid music player that he and her had danced to in private... Ah!

Oh, What a Night began to play, making half the people stop in their tracks, and, determined, Rodney went straight for the three women, and grabbed Kait, pulling her close and grabbing her hand, one hand on her waist, and with a beet red face, he began to lead her around the floor in what looked like a modified waltz.

Pleasantly surprised, as people moved away from them, she allowed herself to be spun around, then pulled back to her dance partner. "Dare I ask?" she said, as he gave her a look.

"Sheppard and his mouth." he said with a grunt, dipping her back and then pulling her back up. She chuckled as she stole a glance at said military leader, as he looked flabbergasted ever so slightly.

"Well, I think you shut him up." she said simply, as she moved closer. "No one cares if you're less than formal, you know." she said, as he relaxed a bit, and allowed his hands to simply move to her waist, her hands resting behind his neck.

"Eh... people have a tendency to laugh when I try and do things like this, I'm not that graceful, you see, and.."

She cut him off mid rambling. "Take a look around."

As Rodney looked around a bit, he was surprised to see people were actually clapping to the music and watching them, surprised but smiling. "Oh."

"Yeah, oh." She chuckled, as she felt him suck in a breath and move her hips with his hands. It was mechanical, but as he got the hang of moving differently, it grew more graceful. He glanced over, as the song changed and went to something more modern, and watched what others were doing.

"I promise, it's the same thing you were doing before..." Kait breathed in his ear, as he shivered, and began to copy what he was seeing.

Over at the table, Sheppard scowled slightly. "Since when does McKay dance... and I don't mean, that dancing, I mean dance in general?" he asked Teyla, who had just sat back down.

"I'm not sure. Where is Elizabeth?" she asked him, as Sheppard smirked.

"I'm meeting up with her later. She thought this was inappropriate for her to be at, being everyone's superior and leader and all." he said, as Teyla nodded knowingly.

"Of course, although I would think no one here would think any less of her for enjoying herself."

Sheppard smiled and nodded, shrugging lightly. That had been his argument to her, as well.

Crescendolls began to blare in the room, and the techno beat made Kait loosen up more if possible. Cadman waved from next to her, winking and pointing at Carson, who was in fact jumping around trying to keep up like a wounded animal. Kait snickered and gave her a thumbs us, and pointed at Carson, nudging Rodney.

"See... at least that's not you." she said, as Rodney tilted his head and looked over at the Scotsman.

"Oh man, no.. that would never be me... " he said, as he wrapped his arms around her from behind. Her face was flushed from exertion as she swung her hips, pulling her hat off her head and placing the red and white santa hat squarely on his head, placing her hand behind his neck as his moved to her back.

About four hours later, the two were both a bit tipsy, tired, but laughing on the way back to McKay's quarters. As the door swung open, she fell in laughing, landing on his bed.

"Poor Carson, I thought he was going to have a heart attack there at the end!" she said, grinning as she unlaced her boots and put them at the foot of the bed, before sitting up, as he pulled off the T-shirt he had put on, his black undershirt remaining, and sat in the chair.

"That gave me ammo for the next millenia... I'll forever hold over his head how he almost flipped his girlfriend into a punchbowl. And before you say anything, he still reminds me of that time I blew up part of a solar system, so... it would make us even." he said, smirking as he sat.

Kait smiled, leaning back into his bed and stretching. She glanced over at the mini-tree she had brought him, and the tinsel he had put up. "You really did outdo yourself, didn't you?" she smiled. "I mean, tinsel too? I thought you were doing good with the tree!" She ducked as he flung his shirt at her with a smirk.

"I do enjoy the holidays, thank you." he glanced over at his nightstand, then back to her. "Hey, I compromised, right?" he asked, pulling her up to him with a devious grin. "I remember something about figuring out different places to kiss under the mistletoe." he said, as she turned around and smirked, wiggling until she was fully underneath of him.

"Something like that... you want to start?" she shrugged, as he took the opportunity to kiss her deeply, his hand going behind her neck. He pulled back, then moved down her top, kissing the top of each mound, then her belly button, making her squeak a bit. He smirked up to her, as she swatted his head lightly. "That tickles, McKay!" she said with a snicker, as he dragged his hands down her rib cage, making her squirm beneath him. He shifted, and kissed the top of her button on her pants, before unbuttoning them and wiggling her out of them, revealing the red lace underneath, cupping her backside fetchingly.

He sat up, groaning at the sight before him, as she sat up and tugged at his shirt, pulling it off with a few quick tugs. She placed her lips on his collarbone, and moved down, as he pulled her back with quickened breaths.

"It may help if I do that bit." he said, as he stood for a moment and undid his pants, letting them fall to the floor with a rustle of fabric. He kicked them off, and grabbed his tablet for a moment, fiddling with the controls. The lights dimmed, and the projector he had been working on projected gold and red around them in the room, making her gasp. The lights seemed to twinkle, and went perfectly with the tree and tinsel he had put up.

"Oh my goodness, Rodney... it's beautiful..." she said, as she looked at the sparkling of the lights as they hit the tinsel.

"I try." he said, glancing back at the nightstand... No, he'd wait... he had some time. She pressed herself against him and pushed her hips against his boxers, feeling the growing hardness. She smirked at him, as his eyes shut for a moment, and she moved her lips down to his boxers, and placed chaste kissed along the hardening member that was starting to prominently show itself. He shut his eyes again and placed his hands on her shoulders, as she drug her nails down his thighs, and back up. With a quick tug, she had pullled his boxers off and freed him from the constraining fabric, before her head and lips returned to what they had been doing, and he sucked in air, his hands moving to her hair on her head and grabbing on, careful not to pull too hard.

"K-Kait..." he muttered, barely able to focus. She glanced up, and his eyes met hers for a moment, and sent a shockwave through his spine... He pulled her up, and hungrily kissed her, his hands moving to her lace, pulling it off and making equally quick work of her top, pulling it down over her hips. As soon as they were off, his hands went searching and found her bud, making her moan and place her head on his shoulder, her eyes hooded. He gripped her waist with one hand, the other working in quick motions that had come from many nights spent learning one another's wants and needs. Moving his hand, he leaned her onto his bed, and placed himself between her knees, positioning himself for a moment before pushing forward, his groan echoing her cry as he hit home. Starting to thrust, slowly at first, he let his hands roam on her body. Every wiggle she made sent electricity from their joining point up to his spine, and his movements became faster, his hands gripping her hips to add force to every thrust, her hips rising to meet his movements. He felt sweat on his forehead, and more importantly, he felt her tensing up beneath him... She was close. Grabbing her hips and angling her, he slammed into her harder, feeling the pulsing waves beginning to wash over him, feeling her heat gripping him as she cried out, her back arching and her toes curling. Unable to control himself anymore, he allowed himself release, and he grunted, spilling into her in bursts.

Panting, his head bowed over her, he felt her fingers running along his back, and he shivered. Peeking through one eye, he took a steadying breath before laying on the bed next to her, running his hands along her side.

She smiled, and placed kisses along his jaw line, as he stroked her hair. "Merry Christmas, Rodney." she said, as she stood for a moment, and knelt at his bed. She stood, and handed him a box. Blinking, he looked at her as she wiggled under his covers, getting comfortable.

"What's this?" he asked, appraising the box.

"Just open it, McKay." she said, watching in amusement as he hefted it, checking the weight and how much it moved in the box, like a small child on Christmas morning.

He tore the paper off, and opened the box, and shot her a look of amusement. In the box was a replica Enterprise, detailed, pewter and silver, all packed with tissue paper, a wooden display stand beneath it. He grinned, and kissed her gently.

"Thank you, Kait. I love it, how'd you know?" he asked, as she smirked. "Something Sheppard told me about you wanting to name an Asgard ship you had found 'the Enterprise' kind of tipped me off." she said, as he smirked, taking it out of the box and placing it on his nightstand. As he did, he opened the drawer and took the box he'd been hiding out of it, closing the drawer behind him.

"Maybe I have something for you, too." he said, as she tried to peek around him. He threw the covers over his lower half, then took a breath. 'It's now or nothing, McKay.' he thought, and he cupped her face.

"Look... I know I'm not a catch or anything... I'm no Ronon or Sheppard." he stopped her as she started to protest. "Let me finish. I know I'm not the top of the totem pole or anything, but, you make me better. You make me a better person, Kait... not a clingy, mushy person, but, you bring out the best in me... That is to say..."

She placed her hand on his shoulder, and looked him dead in the eyes. "Rodney..." she said, as he cleared his throat.

"Marry me."

If she had thought the surprises were over tonight, man, McKay had thrown her another loop. Her eyes went wide, and she sucked in air. But her face was nothing compared to his... he was a bundle of nerves. She thought for a moment... in the last six months... more, if you count her arrival to Atlantis and getting to know him, she had yet to meet anyone else who challenged her and made her simply happy every single day. Rodney had a way of making her laugh, or cheering her up when she was homesick, and taking care of her when she was sick... Smiling fondly, she looked at him once more, and nodded.

"So, I guess there's going to be two McKays around here pretty soon." she said, as she laced her hand with his, making him let out his breath and pull her against him. She pulled back after a moment, and looked at the little box. "Ok, where's the item I get to start showing off in the morning?" she asked, as he opened the box, laughing, and put the small band with a sparkling orange-red gem in the center, polished, cut, and shining... but she could tell it wasn't an Earth gem. In fact...

"Rodney is that a broken ZedPM piece?" she asked, as he nodded, nervous once more.

"Yeah... I thought it'd be original, and more meaningful than some diamond or something... you know any old compressed coal can become a diamond in the right circumstances... but not everything can be a ZedPM... It was silly, probably."

She teared up, and sniffled. "Rodney, I love it... it's stunning." she said, as he pulled her against him, laying down and looking at the lights around them. Kait laid her head down on his chest, and closed her eyes, hearing his heartbeat, her fingers tightened in his as they drifted off to sleep, both now tired.

"I love you, Rodney."

"I love you too, Kait."