Prompt: Cards (part 1)
Pairing: N/A / Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Christmas was supposed to be a joyous season and it usually was, but, unfortunely, this was also a though season for Elizabeth. Not only did she have double the work, with choosing who will go home on leave for Christmas and who was staying behind, plus the daily operations of the city, there was one thing that she was dreading doing.
In the last month alone, the Atlantis expedition had lost a few of their members. Stargate Command had made the family notifications, but she felt that she needed to give something more to the families. After all, these people were under her command and she knew for a fact that many of them had told their families who she was. It didn't feel right to her to not say anything about them to their respective families, in her own words.
That's were she was. Working late in her office, writing hand-written and personalized cards to the families of the ones she had lost. She was starting from the beginning, with the first member they had lost: scientist Lacey White. Dr. White had been in an off-world research mission with SGA-3, when they were ambushed. While retreating to the gate, she had been wounded and ended up passing away the next day, in the Atlantis infirmary.
She was a bright, young scientist that was always ready to help everyone and that was exactly what Elizabeth was telling her parents in her card. She wished she could tell them more, but due to the fact that her parents didn't had clearance to know about the expedition, that was all that Elizabeth was able to say. She went on numbering the great qualities that Dr. White was known for, as well as tell them how much she was cared for by all who knew her. Elizabeth signed the card and moved on to the next.
Elizabeth lost count to the number of cards she had written when there was a knock on the door. Not lifting her eyes from the card she was finishing, she told who ever it was to enter and to give her a minute. Once she was done, she looked up and saw that it was John.
Elizabeth asked him if everything was okay, to which he answered that it was. He couldn't sleep and when he saw that she was still working, came to ask her if she needed anything. Leaning back in her chair, Elizabeth let out a tired breath and told him what she was doing. John just nodded, sitting in the chair in front of her.
They didn't say much after that. Elizabeth went back to the last of the cards and John started looking over some mission reports on his tablet. They just sat there, working, not saying anything. Elizabeth could feel his silent support for what she was doing. He knew all too well what it was like to have to notify a family member that their loved one was gone and she knew that.
By the time Elizabeth was done with the cards, it was almost five am. She had spent all night writing and, not only did she feel physically exhausted, she was mentally exhausted as well. Writing those cards had taken a lot more from her than she thought it would.
Capping her pen, she placed the last card with the others and stood up, John following suit. They still didn't say a word, they didn't have to. Leaving her office, John escorted her to her quarters and, before she got in, he told her that he thought it was a nice gesture what she was doing.
Elizabeth just answered that it was the least she could do, before saying goodnight and entering her room. Once the doors were closed, Elizabeth couldn't help but to think about all those they had lost, not just during the past month, but since the expedition began and she felt a tear escaping her eyes.
She could easily blame it on the exhaustion she was feeling, but the truth was that she felt sad and mad at the fact that they had lost so many people, so many good people, since this expedition began. When she was given this assignment, they had told her that it wouldn't be easy, but she never thought it would be this hard. That she would lose so many people and that there wasn't anything she could do to change that.
She knew they were doing all they could to make things safer for everyone, but they couldn't control everything and that right there was the problem. Things happened, accidents happened, and all she could do was try and lead everyone the best way she knew how.
Getting in bed, after a hot shower and a good crying session, Elizabeth couldn't help but think that if she could go back in time, she would try and save every one of them and she would send them home to celebrate Christmas with their families. But, since she couldn't, all she could do was send a few cards and hope they could bring some solace to the families. Something that she didn't have.