Previously: Radek is off on a mission (since chapter 43), but that doesn't mean we don't have time for fun.
Chapter 50. Sheppard's Miracle.
Anna rolled off the bench to the floor. It was a relatively soft landing on the mats beneath.
Teyla giggled. "Anna, you don't have to wait for us."
Anna groaned and put her chin on her hands. She was exhausted, actually. All day spent training. Strength. Agility. Her body felt like a wet noodle. "I wasn't waiting," she lied. She looked at the door out of the gym and grinned. "I was going to roll out of here."
"Come on," Ronon sighed and offered her a hand. "Get up."
"Why?" Anna looked up at his offered hand, took it before he got a chance to answer.
Ronon didn't understand the significance of today. Why should he, anyway? He was Satedan. He didn't understand that Radek should have been here and he wasn't here… There were important things to do, of course. Christmas didn't figure into the list of important things when a Wraith attack on Atlantis was a very real possibility.
Christmas. Radek was going to miss Christmas. He hadn't even sent a message or anything.
He'd forgotten Christmas. Who would forget Christmas?
Radek. Radek would forget Christmas, and sometimes it seemed like she couldn't actually blame him for it. Everyone on Atlantis seemed to forget Christmas, except that Anna brought it up a few weeks ago. Radek had been gone about two weeks then.
So much for subtle hints.
Ronon and Sheppard went to the mainland for a tree. The Athosians helped decorate it. Gifts were wrapped and under the tree. No one was allowed to work tomorrow, Christmas day, whether they were celebrating or not. It was a mandatory holiday for everyone… everyone except the scientists at the Ancient outpost.
"Are you not performing in the Christmas Eve concert tonight?" Teyla asked.
Anna sighed and leaned over, touching her fingers to the floor. She'd never seen her toes so close up before Atlantis. Never been this flexible. Never been this strong, either. Never felt this stupid.
Of course, other high schoolers weren't dealing with geniuses from all over the globe giving her math puzzles.
"Yes…" Anna looked at Teyla. "We shouldn't have trained so long with that in mind. I'm not going to be able to stand long enough for my solo."
Teyla smirked, shaking her head. She stowed her bantos sticks. "Nonsense. Your playing will be marvelous."
"Greensleeves," Ronon mumbled. "What the hell does that mean?"
"Honestly…" she said, looking to Ronon. "I've never thought about it."
She shared a laugh with Teyla. Ronon still seemed concerned about the song title. Either that or he didn't give two figs about it.
They were about to leave the gym when Sheppard suddenly walked in.
Teyla looked pleased, standing to one side to allow him into their circle. She was good at that. Making people feel welcome, even if they walked in on the end of something. "Good afternoon. I trust your day has gone well?"
"Ah, you know." Sheppard shrugged, turning from Ronon to Anna. "How's the violin?" He threw a playful punch on Anna's shoulder with a smirk. "Better than your remote control car-racing skills, I hope."
Anna tried to be serious, but it didn't work very well. "Ready for the concert to be over already. I always hated performing. And I've never played with a group of genius-level hobbyists." She frowned when she realized that sounded rude. She didn't mean to be rude.
"Just be thankful that I'm not breaking out my guitar," John said.
"You have a guitar?" Anna could almost imagine John playing a guitar. Acoustic. Probably mellow versions of hard rock songs, but she couldn't decide if he would sing or not.
Probably not. Anna couldn't imagine he'd put any work into fine tuning his voice. He used that more often for shouting orders.
"I used to," John said. "I haven't played in decades." He suddenly clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "Alright, then. What are the plans for Christmas, everyone?" He looked at those gathered there and finally settled on Anna. "Well. I guess just you. Teyla and Ronon, you guys don't celebrate Christmas."
"I am still unclear on what Christmas is," Teyla said slowly.
"Yeah," Ronon said. "Me, too."
John pointed toward them, before sliding back to Anna. "Yeah. Babies and snowmen and reindeer with red noses."
Anna smirked. She was pretty sure that wasn't what Christmas was about. But it certainly confused the issue for Teyla and Ronon.
"Babies?" Teyla wondered. A second later, she seemed to catch up with the rest of John's sentence. "Red-nosed reindeer?"
"Well, one baby, actually," John finished. "Anna, what about you? What does the Czech Republic do for Christmas?"
Anna shrugged. "Well, we usually celebrate most of Christmas on Christmas Eve with our families." She looked toward the floor. Hers was busy. That was okay. Elizabeth said she would celebrate Christmas with her. "So. I don't know what I'm doing."
"Wait, what?" John interrupted. "Zelenka isn't coming?"
Anna shook her head. "I don't think so. That's okay, though. He's very busy."
"Busy, yeah," John said softly. "But it's Christmas." He looked off into the distance for a moment, before looking back. He slugged her playfully in the shoulder and smiled a second later. "Have a little faith, right? That's what Christmas is about. Faith and, uh, and miracles. See?"
Anna shrugged. She didn't know about Christmas… well, she knew enough to get by with her few religious relatives… Well, Radek only had one sister left and her mother was an only child. Neither of their parents were alive. That left Radek's sister's husband's family. She hardly saw them, only on the rare occasion her mother couldn't be around. But they were religious… and willing to explain any question a six-year-old might have.
"I think Christmas is also about forgiveness," Anna mumbled.
John frowned. "Um. You might have to explain that for me. Later." He glanced around quickly, like he was looking for something or someone. "I have a few things I have to take care of before the concert. See ya in a few hours."
Everyone looked a little shocked as he ran out of the room.
Teyla smiled, that way she smiled when she was trying to save face for someone else. "Well. Should we go? I have a beautiful dress for you, Anna. We were able to find one from a trader on one of the planets we visited."
Anna nodded. "I can't wait."
They started walking out of the gym. Ronon followed at a distance as Teyla told her about the dress's fabric. There was only so much to say about the dress, though, and the conversation fell into a lull.
Ronon spoke up. "So, what is Christmas?"
#
Radek slumped over his computer. Just a few more days of this and they'd be ready for the test firing. He'd lost count of the days a long time ago, but it felt like they'd been here for months. Maybe they had been.
No. He was sure he'd know if it had been months. He hoped so, anyway. Because even though it felt like he'd been here for an eternity, it seemed like only a few days ago he'd shared dinner with Anna on Atlantis.
Shaking that thought out of his head, he turned back to the computer. Rodney and most of the others had disappeared to the bowels of the outpost. Doing one final check on the weapon and the power conduits before they took their colloquial first shot.
Just another bit of proof that they were almost there. The first step toward unlimited, more-or-less clean energy could have been one test away. They could be laughing about this next week. Congratulating Rodney on his assurance of a Nobel.
Radek didn't know why he couldn't shake this anxious weight on his chest.
"Radek."
Radek blinked in confusion before looking up. Colonel Sheppard sounded insistent. Like something terrible happened or Radek had done something terribly wrong. "What is it, Colonel?" he asked.
"Where's McKay? I couldn't raise him on the radio."
Of course. There was nothing that Colonel Sheppard would have wanted to see him for. "I think he's… he's around here somewhere," he finished finally.
"Damn." Sheppard sighed and looked around. He had that look on his face like his brain was working overtime. Like he was trying to decide what to do next. "Okay. Whatever. You're coming with me. McKay will have to deal with it."
"I'm coming with you? Where? Why?" Radek watched as Colonel Sheppard switched off the monitors that Radek had been using. His heart suddenly skipped a beat. "Is Anna okay?"
"Oh, yeah, Anna's fine." With that Sheppard seized Radek's shoulder and started dragging him toward the Jumper. His tone didn't exactly match his words. "At least, she is right now. If you don't come with me, she—"
"Colonel Sheppard." Radek planted his feet and stayed put. "What is going on?"
Colonel Sheppard faced Radek. "Tell me something, Radek. What's today?"
"Today?" Radek shrugged. "December—to je neuvěřitelný, já jsem takovej debil." *
"See, my Czech is getting better, because I'm pretty sure I agree with you," Colonel Sheppard mumbled, leading the way toward the Jumper. "It's December 24th. Did you know that Czechs celebrate the majority of Christmas on December 24th? See, I didn't know that until about an hour ago." He was just being sarcastic now.
Radek didn't see a point in answering. This was one dress-down he deserved.
Sheppard took off again toward the Jumper. "Do you want to know who I learned that from?"
"She is angry, isn't she?" Radek started walking to the Jumper.
"I told her that Christmas is a day of faith and miracles." Colonel Sheppard stomped ahead of Radek into the jumper and slid into the pilot seat. "Getting you away from your work on an Ancient outpost? One miracle, courtesy of John Sheppard. I always wanted to play Santa Claus."
Radek slumped into the chair next to him. That would have been a crisis that he couldn't recover from. What kind of father missed Christmas? He didn't have a gift for her, of course. Gifts were hard to come by in the Pegasus galaxy on a good day. But that wasn't what Christmas was about, was it?
Just a few short hours and he would have missed the point of it entirely.
"Sheppard to McKay," Colonel Sheppard said as he powered up the Jumper. "Last chance, McKay." He paused. Radek assumed that meant that Rodney answered. "Calm down, he's with me." Another pause. "Stop yelling. Tomorrow is Christmas and we're going back to Atlantis. Do you or any of your team want to come?"
There was a very long pause. Sheppard sneered, even though Rodney couldn't see him. "Bah humbug to you, too." Sheppard finished the conversation by closing the Jumper door. Radek hated flying, but it was almost okay if Sheppard was the pilot.
The structure wherein they'd been working for the past weeks was just a small, cream-colored dot below them when Sheppard looked at Radek, a serious crease in his brow. "I told her you'd be there. So you'll be there. Basically, my gift to you. How do you say 'merry Christmas' in Czech?"
Radek sighed and leaned back in his chair. He'd never received a better Christmas present in his life. "Veselé Vánoce, Colonel." **
Czech Things
* "This is unbelievable, I'm such a moron." According to Stargate episode transcripts.
** Veselé Vánoce = Merry Christmas.
Next time: Christmas in, um, April.