Chapter five
Ford woke early that morning, to the sound of kids running and playing in the halls, getting out of bed he moved over to the door to his quarters and opened it to see the Athosian children as the run through the corridors singing Christmas carols and waiting for everyone else to wake up. Looking across the hall he saw Sheppard as he too opened the doors to his quarters wondering why it was so noisy.
Sheppard nodded across to Ford and Ford fought to keep a giggle in at what the Major was wearing, his hair was all messy from his sleep and he was wearing a rather large baggy t-shirt and some track suit pants. Although he figured that he currently didn't look much better, wearing a pair of baggy pants and his Oddities t-shirt. "Morning Sir" He yelled to him above all the screaming. "Sleep well?" He asked.
Sheppard just looked at the Kids and them turned back and looked at Ford. "Ah, yes, sorta… until all this dam noise started!" He yelled back. Then just he was about to say something else the PA system started buzzing and a tired voice come over. 'All Atlantis personal and Athosians please make your way to the Commissary ASAP' It said and Ford just moved back into his room and crabbed his cap and then he and Sheppard made their way to the Commissary, following all of the yelling and singing Athosian children.
Reaching the Commissary half the Atlantis personal where standing around still wearing the Pyjama's, some where lounging on the chairs almost half asleep. Just as Ford and Sheppard reached the room, Weir entered following them. "Morning" She said and they looked to see that she too was in her PJ's still, wearing a lose fitting top and pants, her hair was all messy as well, but she didn't seem to care much. "Just like back home" She said and then looked at what they were both dressed in and then across at all the Children sitting around the bottom of the Tree where the presents where. Teyla was also sitting around with the kids as they rummaged through everything.
"You ca say that again" Ford said as a grin crossed his face. "Nothing better than getting up extra early and opening your Christmas presents while still wearing your PJ's" He said, as his grin grew.
"I'd prefer to still be in bed" Sheppard said as he walked across to the table and plonked himself down in a chair.
A few minutes later and McKay walked in, having looked like he just came from having a shower, which they figured he had. "Morning" He said as he came and stood next to Weir and yawned. "What's up?" He then asked turning to look at Weir.
"It's Christmas Rodney!" Weir replied with a huge smile.
McKay just looked at her. "Oh, yeah, forgot" He said and then turned to see all the Athosian kids as they rummaged through the presents under the tree. "Ah, I'm gonna go check on the gate stats" He said and turned and headed out of the room before Weir had time to stop him.
McKay entered the Control Room and opened the lid of the laptop, waiting for it to reload he sat in the chair wearily and yawned again. He didn't even notice that one of the Chevrons on the Gate was glowing. Once the screen had loaded he looked at it and nearly fell of his chair in shock. Pushing a button on the panel he then made an announcement. "Dr. Weir please report to the Control Room, Weir to the Control Room" He said and then re-pushed the button to turn of the PA system.
A few minutes later and Weir, Sheppard, Ford and Teyla all entered the room. "What's up McKay?" Sheppard asked as he entered further into the room.
"Well ah, the Gate has started dialling…" McKay said and all four heads immediately swung around to look at the Gate.
"Only one Chevron is locked" Weir said as she looked at the gate again and then turned around to look at McKay.
"I know, but if you watch it, it's dialling" McKay said as he gestured for her to look at the Gate again. "Its dialling at an extremely slow pace but it is dialling" He continued.
"Can you stop it?" Sheppard asked.
"No! I have no idea how it's doing it, but I say it has something to do with the problems it's been having the last few days" McKay replied as he looked back at his computer screen. "Wait, its speeding up" He said and then quickly looked up to see the lights on the Gate flashing again, as it normally would.
"Shut the Iris" Weir said as she turned to look at Rodney again.
"Ah, I can't Elizabeth" He stated and looked back up at her again. "I can't access anything on the Control Panel" he added in slight shock.
Within minutes the Seventh Chevron locked and the event horizon established with a Kawoosh and each of them in the Control Room, stood and waiting for whatever it was to come through. But there was nothing.
"I'm getting something" McKay said after a few minutes. "It's… It's the SGC" He informed them then left the computer and joined them over by the balcony as they watched to see what happened.
Ten minutes past before anything came through and then suddenly something started to emerge from the Stargate, it looked like a MALP, but it was covered in tinsel and there was a Christmas tree siting on top of it, and a dozen of presents loading up underneath it.
"What the hells going on?" Sheppard asked as he turned to Weir.
Weir laughed and then turned and started making her way down to the Gate Room, the others following her closely. "I'd say it's, General O'Neill's way of saying… Merry Christmas" She said with a smile as they made their way over to the MALP.
Reaching the MALP Weir picked up a bulky looking envelope that was placed in front of the tree and was addressed to 'All Atlantis Personnel and Co.' Laughing again she began opening the letter as the others came down to join her by the MALP. Opening the enveloped she then pulled out the Christmas card that was stuck inside it.
'To all Atlantis Personnel and friends,
We would like to wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We thank you for the work you have done over the time you have been away, we have received you're messages for assistance and are pleased to announce that the Daedalus is en-route to your location and should arrive within the next few days, along with extra personnel and some other supplies.
We have also sent you along some Christmas supplies so that you can enjoy as normal Christmas as possible in such situations! Enjoy your Christmas and New Year and we should be seeing you soon. Good luck in the future.
Best Wishes From the SGC – Earth!'
"Wow" Weir said as she read through what was written.
"What is it?" Ford asked. Weir just turned to face him and then paced him the card to read. "Wow" He said repeating her reaction. "That's great news!" He said cheerfully.
"Someone wanna let us in on this great news?" Sheppard asked.
"The Daedalus is on its way here" Weir explained her voice laced with slight excitement. "With more personnel and supplies!" She added smiling widely and then Ford passed across the card for him to read.
Sheppard had a read though it and nodded his head. "Yep, that is definitely Great news" He said with a smile.
"What is the Daedalus?" Teyla asked, slightly confused.
"The Daedalus is an Earth ship" Sheppard answered her question.
McKay just looked across at Sheppard and rolled his eyes then turned to Teyla. "The Daedalus, is the second Earth ship, it's fitted with Asgard technology which is probably the reason why it is able to travel to another galaxy" He explained to her. "And ah, did they mention anything about food supplies?" He asked turning back to Weir.
"Nothing that specific Rodney" Weir said as Sheppard then passed the card to him to have a read off.
"So Earth has its own space ship?" Teyla asked still slightly confused.
"Yes!" Weir said. "It has two, as Rodney said… The first being the Prometheus, and the second being the Daedalus" She continued.
"Why do they not use the… Prometheus?" Teyla asked.
"The Prometheus is a much bigger ship" Sheppard responded.
"I see" Teyla responded still slightly confused, but getting the main points.
"Anyway…" Ford said as he took a step towards the MALP and picked up one of the presents. "What's say we start opening presents" He said with a grin.
"I say… lets take them to the Commissary and open them all together!" Weir said with a smile.
"Good idea" Ford said as he picked up as many presents as he could carry and started back for the stairs.
Weir smiled and laughed slightly then she herself picked up a bunch of the presents and started after him. "Come on guys, we got lots of celebrating to do still!" She said and then the rest of them followed in her and Ford's lead.
Ford and Weir got back to the Commissary at the same time, their hands full of presents. "What's going on?" Chris, one of the shoulders that Ford had spoken to two days earlier.
"We just received a nice Christmas package from the SGC" Weir replied to his question with a smile.
"Really?" Jim asked.
"Yes Really" Ford replied as Sheppard and the others entered the room. Sheppard was carrying the Christmas tree and he placed it down on the ground near the other one they had gotten. Ford then quickly occupied himself placing the presents neatly underneath, followed by Weir and the others with their lot of presents and other Christmas decorations.
"Cool" Robbie said as they watched the others enter with the other presents and set them down on the ground. "So are we gonna start opening these pressies? Or sit here and watch them look good" He asked as a smile crept onto his face.
"I say we start opening them all" Weir said. "And in honour of organising most of the things for today I am going to give Lieutenant Ford the honour of handing the presents out to everyone" She said as she looked across at him and smiled.
Ford's grin grew on his face as he then started picking presents out from under the tree's, giving out the ones they already had first and leaving the Earth ones until very last.
Over an hour and a half later all the presents except the ones that were from Earth had been handed out to everyone, the Athosian children were thrilled with their presents, most of which were some old toys or chocolate bars. The presents that the Athosians had made were very unique too, several things had been made and most staff were pleased with what they had gotten.
Once finished, Ford then moved over to the pine Christmas that had been sent through from the SGC, and all the brightly wrapped presents, covered in wrapping papers that had pictures of Santa and Christmas Trees and Elves etc… The Athosian children where excited in just the textures and patterns on the paper. Most of the Athosians and several of the Atlantis personnel had left the Commissary by the time Ford reached the presents from Earth
There was the total amount of twelve presents from the SGC, Ford handed the first and biggest on to Weir to open, the second to Sheppard, third for himself, fourth for Teyla, fifth for McKay, sixth for Beckett and left the others sitting there for a bit longer as they each opened the presents.
"Oh my god!" Weir said as she pulled the paper away from the first gift, and everyone else in the room stared in amazement as a ZPM was revealed.
"It's a ZPM!" Sheppard stated the obvious as he shrugged off the looks he was given from several other staff members.
"Wow! This is great" McKay said. "With this we can power up the city's shields again, the Wraith won't b able to touch us" He stated in an excited tone.
"I thought we needed three to do that?" Sheppard asked rasing an eyebrow to him.
"We do, but two is a good start" He said as a smile crossed his face.
"Two?" Weir asked and McKay finished unwrapping the rest of the present he had gotten.
"Yes… Two" He said as he revealed another ZPM.
"Oh wow!" Weir said. "That's amazing… Where do you think they got them from?" She asked in amazement.
"I have no idea but they would have needed one to establish the wormhole as well" McKay replied.
"Right now I honestly don't care" Sheppard said. "We need them, who cares where they came from" He stated plainly as he continued opening his present, his not being as exciting as the others, it was just a brand new magnifying glass. "Think this could be either of yours" He said turning to McKay and Beckett.
McKay and Beckett just looked across at each other and shrugged, while Beckett then went back to unwrapping his present. "Think this might me for you, Major" He said as he revealed his present to be a small bag of sporting equipment, football included.
"Oh awesome" Sheppard replied as he ripped open the bag and grabbed out the footy. "So who wants to play?" He asked with a grin.
"Ah, later sir" Ford said with a smile.
Sheppard just frowned. "Fine then, I'll go play alone" He said and turned to leave.
"I'm sure you'll find some Athosian children willing to play football with you John" Weir said with a smile as she shook her head at his enthusiasm in the sport.
Weir then turned to Ford, expecting him to have had his present opened first. "So what did you get Lieutenant?" She asked with a grin and he smiled back at her.
"I ah got this" He said and handed her the box that had been wrapped up. "I think it may be for you ma'am" He said as his cheeks blushed slightly.
Weir took the box and she opened it up to reveal several medals each address to several members of the Atlantis team. "Thanks…" She said and smiled back at Ford, you returned the smile as she then lifted a note that was stuck to the lid of the box.
'Dear Dr. Weir,
Having received your messages recently and hearing your stories we have decided that several of your team members deserve recognition for their work an I hereby send you these medal and awards to be given to those certain members in a ceremony, I appreciate your work and good luck for your futures. Keep up the good work.
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Yours sincerely,
(image of signature)
Henry Hayes
Present of the United States of America'
She smiled as she read the note. "Merry Christmas" She said out loud as she re-folded the note and placed it back in the box.
"What was it?" McKay asked.
"You'll find out soon enough!" She replied the smile not shifting from her face. "Why don't you go get these ZPMs into place" She said to him.
"Sure thing Elizabeth" He said as he picked up one of the ZPMs, he then turned to Beckett. "Wanna grab the other one for me Carson?" He asked.
"Sure" Beckett replied and picked up the second ZPM and the two of them made their way out of the room.
"So Teyla, what you get?" Ford asked turning to face the Athosian.
"I am unsure" She said as she showed him what she had unwrapped. Ford and Weir both laughed as they saw just exactly what Teyla had gotten. Having absolutely no idea what it was she just looked at them both with a puzzled expression on her face. "Is it something of comical value?" She asked.
"Ah, well, sorta…" Ford answered as he calmed his laughter.
"This is bound to be from General O'Neill" Weir said as she too calmed her laughter tasking another look at the gift.
"I do not understand" Teyla said still confused.
"It's okay Teyla, this is just the General's sense of humour" Weir said, laughing only slightly now.
"But even this is a tad different for the General" Ford said as he looked at it again and shook his head. He then smiled across at Teyla. "Back on Earth it's something that kids like to play with in the bathtub" He said with a grin.
"Oh" Teyla responded as she then went to pass the toy across to Ford when it started singing. 'Rubber Duckie you're the one, You make bath time lots of fun, Rubber Duckie I'm awfully fond of you' At which point Teyla dropped the toy duck and watched as both Weir and Ford cracked up laughing unable to stop themselves. 'Rubber Duckie joy of joys, When I squeeze you, you make noise, Rubber Duckie you're my very best friend it's true, I find a little fellow who's cute and yellow and chubby, Rub a dub dubby, Rubber Duckie you're so fine and I'm lucky that you're mine, Rubber Duckie I'd like a whole pond of you, Rubber Duckie I'm awfully fond of you' The toy continued as it waddled across the floor, which just proved to make Ford and Weir laugh even more.
"I do not get this entertainment" Teyla said as she watched her two companions almost make them selves sick with absolute laughter.
Weir just looked up at Teyla and tried ignoring the sound of the Duck as it waddled and sung on the floor. "It's okay Teyla" She said through laughter as she once again attempted to calm herself. "We just weren't expecting that" She added.
"I didn't even know there were one's that sung" Ford said as he too tried calming his laughter. "Was that Ernie? From Sesame Street?" He asked.
"I think it was" Weir replied as she then leant down and picked up the duck. "Right, now that over, lets open these other presents!" She said with a smile as she sat the duck on the table and reached for the last of the presents, handing them out to each of the others in the room.
Half an hour later and they were finished, having not found any other incredibly funny present but some other nice handy ones… included a video message from family members of all base personnel. Weir had given it to Rainbow and said that he would be in control of it, but she had the perfect time for him to show it.
Two and a half hours later, the cooks in the Commissary where readily getting the dinner feast ready for everyone, whilst the Athosian Children where still running around, playing with their new toys and such. Having fun and eating too much chocolate.
Weir was in her office organizing something, something that no one other than her and Ford knew about. She wanted it to be a surprise for all involved. Ford was currently in the Gate Room helping with something else Weir had asked him do to for her. Sheppard and Teyla were off cleaning up the rubbish from the present opening in the Commissary as that's where they were to eat.
Beckett and McKay had pit the ZPMs back in place but had left them dormant until it was absolutely necessary to have them on. After that they had headed back to the labs to work on something else. Weir was unsure what exactly they were doing, just that they were doing something… hopefully.
Another hour and a half later and both Weir was finished with everything she needed to do so she walked out of her office and she looked over the edge of the balcony and down to the Gateroom to see if Ford was finished yet as well. Seeing her he gave her nod of his head and she then made her way over to the control panel, pushing a button, she made another announcement.
"Can I have your attention please!" She said into the PA System. "I know this is short notice, but can I please have all Atlantis personnel report to the Gateroom immediately" She continued then re-pushed the button and made her way to join Ford down in the Gateroom. In her hands the small box that she had been given as a present.
Reaching the bottom of the stairs she took a good look around, Ford had done a great job, the front of the gate had been covered by a white sheet and a projector set up at the back of the room, as well as a small video recording camera set off to the side, covering the walls where flags from all the different countries that base members were from.
"Great Job, Lieutenant" Weir commented as she reached where he was moving a podium from the side of the room to the front of the Gate.
"Thanks" He responded as he smiled to her. "It's all yours Ma'am" He added with a quick salute as he headed to the back of the room where the video camera was, just as people started to enter the room.
Twenty minutes later and every body on the base was in that room, no one having any idea what was going on, Dr. Elizabeth Weir, moved in front of everyone and stood behind the podium as she address her personnel.
She handed out all the awards she had been given by the president, the medals and so forth and she had even gotten one herself, she had also been given the honour of promoted several members of her staff, some of those members including. 'Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard' and one 'Captain Aiden Ford' who had no idea and where completely overwhelmed.
After all the Awards and Promotions, Ford had put on the video sent from the SGC, with the messages from peoples loved ones as they wished them Merry Christmases and Happy New Years and wished them the best of luck etc… there were several people who were in tears by the end.
At the end of it all, Weir returned to the podium to thank them all for their help over the last year and their time on Atlantis. And hoped that this Christmas would bring them more hope for their future. She ended the ceremony with having everyone return to the Commissary for the evening Christmas meal.
As the people piled out of the room and headed for the Commissary, all that could be heard was… 'Rubber Duckie you're the one, You make bath time lots of fun, Rubber Duckie I'm awfully fond of you, Rubber Duckie joy of joys, When I squeeze you, you make noise, Rubber Duckie you're my very best friend it's true, I find a little fellow who's cute and yellow and chubby, Rub a dub dubby, Rubber Duckie you're so fine and I'm lucky that you're mine, Rubber Duckie I'd like a whole pond of you, Rubber Duckie I'm awfully fond of you' As the Rubber Duck that General O'Neill had sent them waddled along in front of the Stargate.
The End!