Disclaimer: Of course I do not own Stargate, people with better lawyers do…but then, it's soon Christmastime! *g*
Spoilers: nothing important so far, maybe 'Solitudes'
Notes: Just a fluffy Christmas fic…I was bored and had nothing else to do. And be nice since English is not my first language. Where I come from we celebrate Christmas at the evening of Dec. 24th, just so you know should it be different with you. OK, 'nuff said. On with the story!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
//Winter Wonderland\\

hoellenwauwau

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
22nd of December


The second Major Samantha Carter came through the Stargate she held her breath. A Christmassy white scenery was in front of them, thick layers of snow covering the ground, the trees and the hills in the distance. Everything glistened and sparkled in the soft rays of light, sent down on this planet by a distant sun. It was a perfect sight – and still Sam felt a rising cold, accompanied by a feeling of uncertainty.

Since the day she involuntarily had landed in the Antarctic, together with the Colonel, winter caused her discomfort. At that time they only had been spared a tragic end with a lot of luck. And every time she saw snow she felt reminded of that fateful day.

Only as she turned she noticed that the Colonel was looking at her with a strange expression in his eyes. He knew how she felt and Sam suspected that with him it wasn't any different. They regarded each other quietly, but after a few seconds Jack turned from her and a huge grin started to spread over his face.

"Wow! If that's not a Christmas paradise!", he exclaimed and indicated the others to follow him.

Sam sighed. She knew that Jack always concealed his feelings from others, but for her it wasn't that easy. Only after a few seconds she was able to overcome her secret fears and followed the others, who were already engaged in easy conversation, down the stairs.

As almost always the Stargate was situated upon a platform in the midst of a clearing. But instead of trees this time there was only a bare snow-covered plain in front of the which seemed to extend endlessly.

At this moment Jonas seemed like a little boy to her, as he plodded through the snow behind the Colonel looking in amazement at the bright white around him. Did snow exist on his home planet? Sam didn't know, maybe it was just that he never had seen quite a scenery like this. Suddenly she noticed that she didn't know many things about their newest team member. As soon as they were back on earth this would change, she promised herself. There was too little time to let these opportunities pass by.

The snow creaked beneath her feet and as they passed some snow-laden trees she could smell the faint odour of fir-needles. As a child she had loved that scent. Every Christmas she had decorated the Christmas tree together with her mother, had baked sweet-smelling cookies... but after the death of her mother she was denied even this pleasure. Christmas had never ever been the same.

The happy chat of her friends drifted by her as she remembered her childhood. She had been a happy child, this she didn't doubt. But where had this happiness gone? She couldn't even remember the last time she really had celebrated Christmas...

Every year she got an invitation from her brother Mark to join him and his family at Christmas, but as always she had refused to do so this year as well. Instead she plunged herself into her work and spend the holidays in her lab or at home in front of her TV. Once the Colonel had invited her, but she had refused his offer, too. And this year she wasn't going to celebrate Christmas as well. Probably...

Something cold pulled her away from her gloomy reflections and downright shocked her. Startled she glanced up and spotted the Colonel, who stood some meters away from her forming something white and round with his hands, a mischievous grin on his lips. As she looked herself over she noticed occasional spots of snow on her jacket.

Sam could bite back a devilish grin. This meant war!

Quickly she bend down, took a handful of snow and skilfully formed a small solid ball. Seconds later this sophisticated little bomb hit its target and exploded – squarely in Jack's face. Sam laughed at the sound of his startled shriek, and then quickly ducked as another snowball whizzed by her ear.

As she bombarded the Colonel with snowballs she could see Jonas and Teal'c in the corner of her eye, who watched the chaos in confusion and probably wondered about the point of this little war. Sam didn't intend to leave them in the dark about it. Another snowball left her hand and landed in Jonas' face. In his surprise he fell over and hit the snow with a startled shriek. Sam just had to laugh at this sight and didn't even notice that the Colonel was sneaking up on her with a big lump of snow in his hands.

Startled she gasped for air as soon as the cold snow landed in her lapel and trickled down her spine. Sam stumbled forward, got tangled up between Jack's legs with her feet and dragged him with her as she fell to the floor. They rolled along for several meters and as they finally managed to disentangle their limbs they lay in the snow and couldn't stop laughing.

Teal'c bend over Sam looked at her with a confused but also amused glance. Then he offered her his hand and easily pulled her up. Jack also struggled to get up and brushed the snow off his jacket.

"That was real fun, don't you think, Carter?", he finally said and rubbed his cold hands. Maybe he should have put on the gloves before but of course he hadn't thought of this. Sam was still laughing. She just could stop. Jack tapped her shoulder reassuringly and followed Jonas and Teal'c who were already on their way again.

After a few minutes Sam had finally calmed down. She wiped away the tears and successfully suppressed another fit of laughter. Then she grabbed her gear which she had lost during their snowball fight and followed the other. Her dreary thought forgotten for the moment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had darkened soon and SG-1 had decided to set up camp on a small clearing surrounded by bushes. Soon the two tents had been set up and Teal'c returned with a small pile of firewood. Although it was a little wet after a few attempts they managed to light a fire which now crackled  softly. Sam was seated around the fire together with her friends and warmed her frozen limbs.

O'Neill passed her steaming cup which gave off a pleasant scent. "What is it?", Sam asked, as she wrapped her fingers around it and breathed in the smell. She carefully sipped from the brim of her cup. The liquid was sweet and tasted like fresh grog. "That's delicious!", she finally exclaimed.

Jack smiled. "It's a secret recipe from my grandmother. But don't tell the General, because there's an extra of rum in it." He smiled broadly as he saw Teal'c's face. "Don't worry, Teal'c. For you I brought some punch for children." Sam had to laugh again and even Jonas started to giggle. Teal'c glared at Jack but then gratefully took the hot cup.

"How did you get the idea to bring grog along?", Sam asked and took another sip of this delicious brew. She already felt at ease and she wasn't cold anymore. Jack shrugged. "When I saw the pictures we got from the MALP I just had to think about Christmas. And since I didn't get the chance to visit the Christmas fair this year I just brought this bottle along." He grinned again. "Even as a child I was hooked on that stuff, but my mother always was afraid that there was too much alcohol in it." He laughed. "That's why I've always been a very, very happy child ad Christmas!"

Sam started laughing. It had been a long time since she had seen the Colonel at ease that much, and she was delighted to see him like this. Moments like these had been rare lately. And suddenly she realised that Jack had to feel as lonely as she herself. He had lost his family, Daniel was gone, too…

She thoughtfully regarded him as he tried to explain to Teal'c and Jonas what and who exactly Santa Claus was. "Hey, Sam!", he – again - pulled her out of her thoughts. Did he just call her Sam? Surprised, she looked up.

"You're better with this stuff. Care to explain to Teal'c how Santa Claus manages to give Christmas gifts to more than six millions of people in just one single night?" Sam just had to laugh as Teal'c expectantly looked at her and waited for a serious answer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sam had offered to take over the first watch for the night. With a newly refilled cup in her hand she sat at the crackling fire, while her friends wrapped themselves into their sleeping bags. It had gotten even colder but thanks to the grog she actually thought it was very warm. But she really had doubts that after her second cup she would be of much help should they really be attacked. But even for these thoughts her mood was too good, although this had to be the alcohol since a few hours ago she had had nothing but gloomy thoughts.

Somewhere in the distance a lonesome wolf howled and Sam felt like in some kind of movie. She stared at the starry sky and looked at the moon which changed the scenery around her into another world with his pale white light. The snow shone in a silver light and a faint breeze brushed past.

A flash in the sky caught her attention and she observed a shooting star which made its way through the stars until it finally vanished somewhere high above Sam. "Make a wish…", she whispered softly and smiled the barest smile. Maybe…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Don't worry, I will continue soon. Just leave me a review, will you!? Thanks. *g*