Elizabeth had done Christmas away from home before. But this year she couldn't hop on a flight and be back in the States in a few hours. She couldn't even call Simon to wish him a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, and tell him that she'd be home for Valentine's.
But as she leaned in to kiss John under the makeshift mistletoe (a piece of paper with the word "mistletoe" scrawled on it in John's handwriting hung above the entryway to his quarters), Elizabeth realized that no Christmas on Earth would ever come close to the celebration in Atlantis.
For Jack and Sam, Christmas is predictable.
She sits in her lab in BDUs, sipping a cup of tea. He enters in slacks and a leather jacket.
"Have fun fishing, Sir."
"Have fun ... thinking, Carter."
She smiles, looks down at the table for a moment, then looks back up, playing shy and innocent.
He grins, inching closer. Every year he resists grabbing her, kissing her, making a mess of the lab, because every year Hammond's would have his ass in a flash.
But Hammond's not in charge this year.
This year, Jack's decided the rules can go to hell.