December 20th - Santa's List by Cleo the Muse
All Ages
Gen, Drabble, Holiday (Christmas), Humor
Warnings: None
Episodes: None
Synopsis: The AO Happy Place Advent Calendar challenge, in which each day of December (until Christmas), a new door is opened on the Advent calendar, and a picture prompt revealed.
Word count: 900
Status: Completed as of December 20, 2007
December 20th - Santa's List
George Hammond was in a good mood, knowing that once the SGC "closed" later that afternoon, he'd have seven whole days off to spend spoiling his granddaughters rotten. He still had paperwork to clear off his desk before he could take his intended mini-vacation, but with the extra energy he had, he was making short work of his to-do list.
Soon he was down to the day-to-day documents that required only his review, not his signature. Skimming through departmental reports, his eye fell on the personnel roster turned in from the front desk on Level 11. As the general in charge, he knew the names and faces of nearly everyone at the SGC, and took great pride in using the roster to test his memory.
Today, with the Christmas spirit having taken over, he had something else in mind.
Sergeant Daniel Siler, he read to himself, noting the oh-dark-thirty arrival time of the SGC's chief of maintenance. Nice, he decided, since Siler always kept his supply requisition forms neat and concise, and any time there was something in need of fixing--even something as seemingly-insignificant as a buzzing fluorescent tube--it seemed that the bespectacled sergeant was already there, taking care of it.
Sergeant Walter Harriman. Definitely nice. The white-haired technician was almost psychic in his ability to anticipate the general's needs, and had occasionally been called "Radar" after the eerily-similar clerk from MASH.
Airman Marianne Walker. Also nice. The young woman always had a smile on her face, even though custodial services was not the SGC's most glamorous job. It was, however, every bit as necessary as Siler's in keeping the base running smoothly.
Doctor Janet Fraiser. For a brief moment, George debated marking the firebrand physician as "naughty", but just as quickly remembered who it was who handled physicals for the senior staff. She might never see the list, but the general wasn't willing to push it. "Nice" it was.
Humming "Here Comes Santa Claus" to himself, the general worked his way down the list, marking each name appropriately as he went. Most were "nice", which was no great surprise since nearly everyone at the SGC had been hand-picked for the assignment. A few were still marked "naughty", such as the mischievous Colonel Feretti.
It occurred to him after he marked "naughty" next to Colonel O'Neill's name that he hadn't seen any of the members of SG-1 on the roster. Flipping to the last page where the desk sergeant noted the names of all personnel who had signed into the base on a previous day but hadn't signed out, he found the three missing names at the top.
Teal'c was a definite "nice", and his name on the holdover list was because the Jaffa lived on-base. Spotting the names of the team's two scientists wasn't terribly shocking either, though a little disappointing given that it likely meant they had each pulled an all-nighter.
Captain Samantha Carter... nice. She was a gifted scientist and one of the finest officers George had ever had the privilege to command, though a little green when it came to making command decisions herself. The general hoped that a few more years serving with Jack O'Neill would give her the necessary guidance she needed.
Doctor Daniel Jackson... nice. In fact, there were few who could out-do the young man when it came to being conspicuously polite, although he was known to get quite defiant if he felt his concerns weren't being properly addressed. Still, like Captain Carter, he was one of the most brilliant minds of his generation, and under Colonel O'Neill's tutelage, rapidly becoming a credit to the uniform he wore in solidarity with his military co-workers.
Returning to where he'd previously left off on his list, George went back to whistling his song until he was interrupted by a knock at the door. Summoning the caller in, he offered a warm smile up to Doctor Jackson, who cradled a file in his hands.
"These are the translations and analyses of the artifacts recovered by SG-11 on M43-288," the archaeologist announced, stepping up to the desk to hand the paperwork directly to the general.
"You didn't have to have this completed until after the holiday, son," George admonished gently, remembering how the young man hadn't signed out the previous night.
Daniel shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down, long hair briefly shadowing his eyes. "Well, I thought it would be best if I started fresh on something after I got back, rather than trying to pick up where I left off."
"I understand," he smiled. "Have a Merry Christmas, Doctor Jackson."
"You too, sir," Daniel answered in kind, heading for the door.
He didn't pull it completely shut behind him, though, which is why George heard the unmistakable voice of Jack O'Neill in the hallway outside the office.
"Well?"
"I told you he would be," the archaeologist replied smugly. "He's making his list and checking it twice."
"Naughty or nice?"
"Oh, you're definitely on the naughty list, Jack."
"Rats."
Chuckling to himself, Hammond flipped to the last page, then scratched out the "nice" next to Doctor Jackson's name and replaced it with "naughty". He, like so many others, had been taken in by the young man's guileless exterior, and had forgotten how much Doctor Jackson took after Colonel O'Neill at times.
Author's Notes:
Hammond as Santa... I couldn't resist.