Janet hummed quietly to herself as she finished off a huge pile of overdue medical reports. It was a shame Cassie was spending Christmas with friends this year. Janet usually didn't make a big deal about Christmas, but this year, she was really getting into the spirit of things. Sighing, she thought to herself,

'Maybe Sam or Daniel will want to get together or something. Yeah, that would be nice. I could even bake cookies…"

"Hi Janet!" Sam's sudden appearance at the door startled her and she jumped.

"Sam! You scared me! What are you doing here? I thought everyone was going home?"

Then Janet noticed the big grin on Sam's face, and looked suspicious.

"Why do I get the feeling you've just had a 'fantastic' idea?"

"Well, General Hammond said I could arrange a surprise for Christmas!" Sam giggled.

"Honey, I think you should sit down before you fall over, okay?"

Sam waved her hand in the air dismissively.

"Oh, it's not the alcohol. That's long gone. No, I'm just excited about this surprise."

"What sort of surprise?" the Doctor was starting to sound worried.

Sam opened her mouth to tell her, and then quickly checked behind her to make sure no one was listening. Sensing the presence of an SF outside the door, and knowing how quickly rumours spread around the SGC, she bent down to whisper in Janet's ear.  Her eyes grew wider and she smothered a laugh.

"You wicked girl!"

Sam straightened up and her smile lessened.

"Do you think I shouldn't?"

"No, no, go for it!" Janet replied quickly, shaking her head. "If that's what you want."

"Thanks, Jan. I knew I could count on you. Now, we've got a lot to do before tomorrow night."

*****

Jack got back to his house much later than he usually would have. The traffic was awful out there, what with all the snow on the ground. At the moment, he was feeling very grateful for the three-day holiday they'd been given. He was tired and needed a shower and all he wanted to do was sleep for three days, never mind about Christmas. He made it half way the bedroom when the doorbell rang.  With a groan, he went to open the door.

"Hi Jack." Daniel pushed past him into the house, and then stopped. Turning to look accusingly at Jack, he said,

"You've been home, what, ten minutes and you haven't even put the kettle on yet!"

Jack looked at him as if he was insane for a minute, and then just shrugged.

"What do you want, Daniel?" he yawned.

"It's Christmas, whatcha think?"

When Jack only yawned at him again, he grabbed Jack's coat and keys and dragged him towards the door.

"Come on, you and me are going shopping," he explained.

"Shopping?"

"Yes, shopping! For Christmas stuff! You know, decorations, a tree, presents, food, stuff like that."

Jack stopped in the doorway.

"No, Daniel. I'm not going shopping. I'm not having a Christmas. I'm going to go inside now and go to sleep. Goodbye, Daniel."

"Wait, Jack…" Daniel tried to stop him shutting the door in his face. He got the door open again and followed Jack into the kitchen.

"Why not? What's wrong?"

There was a pause, while Jack sat down at the table.

"I… I just don't do Christmas. Not since Charlie died, anyway."

Daniel moved to stand next to him.

"Well, don't you think it's time to start again? In truth, there's nothing to stop you."

"I'm not in the mood, okay? Please, leave me alone."

Daniel slowly sat down opposite him and folded his hands on the table.

"Jack, I think Christmas is a time for being thankful for what you have and not taking it for granted. Just think about everything you have to look forward to, everything you have left."

Jack thought for a moment. Daniel was half right. He had a lot of good things in his life and a lot to be thankful for, but there was still one thing he lacked. One thing that he wanted so desperately and could never have. And it wasn't something he could get; it was something that had to find him.

"I know that, Daniel, and you're right. I just can't, okay? This morning… earlier, on the planet, I realised that this just isn't right for me. It means nothing to me anymore."

"Christmas is about your family and friends and the people that care about you, and that's not nothing," Daniel finished with a small smile.

Jack stood abruptly and smiled.

"I'm sorry, Daniel. I just have to be alone right now. Some other time maybe."

Daniel nodded silently and made his way to the door, letting himself out and closing the door softly behind him.

*****

It was about 3am and the halls of the SGC were deadly quiet. The few remaining SFs patrolled the corridors as little as they could get away with it. Most of the time they were to be found in one of the offices or labs, sharing random Christmas jokes. The commissary had been closed for 24 hours due to a burst pipe, apparently, so they didn't really have anywhere else to go.  One of the SFs caught sight of something unusual on his shift, so he bent down to take a look. There was a trail of pine needles along the corridor. Frowning, he followed the trail all the way back to the main lift, where the needles were scattered around and the trail was lost.