AN:1 - Okay, one thing before we get into the fabulous next chapter. Bonus points go to GabeXorn for correctly picking Carter's Theme song! You also get a cookie.
An Insiders Knowledge of the Gateroom – Grand Entrances.
As Chuck watched Pvt.'s Jones and Perconte waltz their way out of the event horizon, he couldn't help but wonder how it will end. He knew how it started; he was there after all, but the ending…
It had started three weeks ago with Dr Miko Kusanagi (of all people). She, along with SGA-4 had just finished their visit with the kids on M7G-677 and were coming home through the gate, decorated and adorned with face-paint, feathers, beads and the glittery hair ties that Cadman had given the younger ones the last time she had visited. Everything about the scene in the Gateroom was perfectly normal. David Mounse (Gate Tech #3 and unofficial mission photographer) was even standing ready with his ever-present camera, waiting to record the anticipated decorations and possible humiliation of the incoming team. The incident would have been completely unremarkable except for the fact that one little secret held close to Dr Kusanagi's heart was about to be revealed.
A secret that had only been known to Miko and Elizabeth Weir (Sam having not yet caught up on all the personnel files). A secret that ran something along the lines of Miko having been a fairly high-level gymnast in her formative years before studies took precedent in her life. So when she tripped over a loose paving stone just before the event horizon on the planet, her muscle memory overtook her panicking thought processes, thus saving her from face-planting on the Atlantis Gateroom floor by propelling her into a neat forward roll, followed by a perfect gymnast's finishing pose/salute.
Now, to most of the staff of Atlantis Base, Miko was the quiet one that faded into the background (if she was known at all). To suddenly see her standing in the middle of the Gateroom, hair pulled back into ponytails with sparkly barrettes, and arms thrust confidently above her head, was slightly…unexpected. Only the frantically whirring shutter of David Mounse's camera broke the silence.
That was until the wild applause started.
As Dr Kusanagi hurried out of the Gateroom, face aflame with embarrassment (well, what could be seen of it under the face-paint), discussion broke out between the staff in the room, and Chuck got that familiar sinking sense of possible impending humiliation. Maybe not his humiliation, but humiliation none the less.
Since the first "Grand Entrance" – as the event had come to be known – some of the off-world teams had decided to try and top it in many and varied ways. Chuck had particularly fond memories of Lorne carrying Cadman bridal style through the event horizon while the other team members stood on either side tossing grain over them. Not to be out done, SGA–9's Can-Can style entrance had been particularly entertaining. But while Chuck had no problems with the lightening of the mood in the Gateroom, he was realistic enough to know that a member of senior staff would soon halt the frivolity.
Still, he was determined to enjoy the fun while it lasted. Therefore, he wrote down a fairly generous 6 on his clipboard (their timing on the waltz was off and Perconte had nearly dropped Jones when he had tried to dip her) and held it above his head, adding his score to the total. After all, as one of the Official Judging Panel, he did have responsibilities.
FIN.
AN:2 - Have no idea where this one came from. Seriously.