A Christmas Gift From a Christmas Past

By The Watch Stander

A little late with this, sorry. Let me know what you think.

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He took a deep breath as he rang the doorbell, noticing the smell of fresh pine coming from the Christmas wreath that hung on the door before him.

When the door opened, a small face, with big blue eyes and a wide smile greeted him.

"Mommy, Uncle's here!" The little boy shouted as he turned and ran down the hall toward the kitchen.

The whole family came to the door and greeted him. Hugs were exchanged and his gifts were placed under the Christmas tree to be opened later that day.

Every Christmas he came to be with them, wanting the closeness of the family and needing the love and affection they showed him.

Entering the living room, he looked at the tree with its numerous packages, then at the mantle, where all the photos were lined up along with more Christmas decorations. A place of honor was given one gold frame that enclosed a picture of two smiling men. The taller of the two had his arm resting lightly over the shorter man's shoulders, a silly grin plastered on his face, the shorter man had a wide happy smile and his arms hung loosely by his sides.

He recognized the set of stairs behind them as Atlantis's control room, where it must have been taken several years ago, before the event that forced them all to abandon Atlantis.

Happier times, he thought as he felt his stomach ache, for just seeing the other man's face hurt, it brought it all back. All of it . . . all that had happened that terrible day, he remembered . . .

As he entered the control room, he saw the Asuran take aim at the man standing by the consol. He immediately raised his own weapon, but his shot missed and the Asuran quickly shot his friend, then turned and shot him in the leg. The impact knocked him off his feet, but he was able to return fire as he fell. The impulse from the em gun made the Replicator shatter to pieces on the floor . . .

Someone tugging on his pant leg, interrupted his memories, for the little boy was back and wanted his uncle to tell him a story.

"Ok, ok! How about an adventure with Ronon, John, Rodney and Teyla."

"Yes!", was the happy answer. So he settled himself on the couch with the little boy on his lap.

The story he told was about one of the many times they had gone off-world and found both enemies and allies waiting for them and how Rodney and John had managed to get them all home safe. He embellished on the actual story, making everyone sound more heroic, especially his friend. The boy sat there wide eyed, enjoying every minute.When the story finished, it was time to open presents and the boy's sister joined them as well as the rest of the family. His eyes strayed back to the photo on the mantle and as everyone opened gifts it made the heartache inside him a little duller and he felt better seeing the happiness and love around him, only wishing that his friend could be here to share it with them all.

From across the room, the little boy noticed the sad look on his Uncle's face and wished he could make him smile. Being a child, he didn't know what to do, but as the day went on, his Uncle seemed to relax. Punch was served while the gifts were opened and soon the room was full of happiness, even his uncle was finally laughing . . .

Ten years later

He came to the door alone, just like he had done for so many past Christmases, only this time besides the gifts, he had a cardboard box with him. The door was opened and he was greeted by the boy, now 16years old and already a member 0f Mensa. Robbie looked a lot like his long dead friend.

It made him smile seeing the same grin on Robbie's face that was so much like his friend's. He tried to smile back in kind, but seeing that smile saddened him and once more he found himself missing his friend.

The box was brought in, with Robbie now curious as to what it contained. Before he could ask, his older sister came into the room, hugged her Uncle and invited him in.

He knew both of the kids had meant so much to his friend and he had been proud of how smart they both were. His friend had been a very private person, but he knew that his friend truly loved his sister and her two children. It was one of the reasons he had given his life trying to save Atlantis and Earth from the Asurans, he had needed to protect them.

If things had been a little different, they wouldn't have lost him or Atlantis. Inside he blamed himself that he hadn't been quick enough to save him.

Memories from that day came back to him . . .

The day had started normally, but had gone to hell in a handbasket when three Asurans ships were discovered heading for Atlantis. Both the Daedalus and the puddle jumpers were needed to fight the ships, using a new transporter beam Rodney had invented, that could transport the A- bombs onto the Asurans ships.

The city itself had been stripped clean of both its occupants and all their equipment, leaving nothing behind that the Asurans could use to find them, if they failed to save Atlantis. Should things go wrong, Atlantis would be destroyed by a self-destruct code that Rodney and Zelenka would implement before they beamed onto the Daedalus. The two scientists stayed behind on Atlantis, co-ordinating the transportation of the bombs from the Daedalus to the replicator ships.

Everyone else was fighting either the Asurans or evacuated to the alpha site for safety, leaving just Rodney and Zelenka on Atlantis.

At first things had gone well, the first two Asuran ships were destroyed early in the battle, but one of their smaller ships managed to breach the shield and land on Atlantis; its occupants were now heading for the control room.

John received a frantic call from Zelenka warning him of the breach and he and a Marine contingent beamed down to Atlantis. They managed to corner all but one of the Asurans and that one remaining replicator was still on its way toward McKay and Zelenka.

John left his men still fighting the cornered Asurans and ran for the control room, arriving in time to hear shots being fired.

Rodney was standing near the consol, trying to shut down and encrypt all the controls for the Stargate; making sure earth would be safe till the city self-destruct went off. Zelenka was lying still on the ground beside him, shot by the Asuran who was now taking aim at Rodney. The Asuran fired and Rodney was able to duck and return fire with his useless 9mm.

John was armed with an em -disrupter, also fired at the Asuran and missed. Rodney took one more chance at the consol, but the Asuran walked right up to him and shot him in the chest ,then turned and shot John in the leg. John was able to fire his em weapon as he fell , hitting the replicator dead on. The Asuran shattered into tiny pieces, that scattered on the floor like broken glass.

Somehow, even with his leg wound, John made his way to McKay and pulled Rodney's head and shoulders onto his lap. Sheppard tried to cover the gaping wound in his friend's chest with his hand, but there was so much blood it was soon covered.

Rodney's eyes were glassy and he was losing the fight to live - a sad smile was on his face as he looked up at John - knowing they had lost this battle as well.

Trying to talk, Rodney was barely able to breathe.

Seeing his friend dying before him, John's eyes began to water and he tried holding Rodney tighter, as if he could hold back death.

Rodney's last whispered words were, "So long . . . , John."

When he heard those words, John tried to hold back his grief as he sat there holding his friend.

In the end they had to abandon Atlantis, setting the self-destruct before they left. With no one left to fight them, the Asurans set out to wipe out all the humans in the Pegasus Galaxy.

Now it would only be a matter of time before they found a way to get to Earth and finish what they had started . . .

John felt the tightness in his chest as he tried to put aside all those memories and take part in the festivities around him. He knew though, sooner or later the Asurans would find them and there would be war here on Earth.

He handed over the cardboard box to Robbie and the boy's eyebrows rose in question.

"It belonged to your uncle and I want you to have it," John said simply.

Robbie sat on the couch and opened the box. Inside was his uncle's laptop and a box with Christmas ribbon and a note attached. It was addressed to John.

John,

This is for you. Hope it comes in handy some day.

Rodney

Sheppard looked at Robbie sadly, " It was on the Daedalus with Rodney's other possessions. Christmas was just a few weeks away from when the Asurans attacked. I have no idea what it is ,probably some ancient toy he wanted me to have... I can't look at it." His eyes suddenly became misted and he turned away. "So, how about some of that punch?" he asked, his voice raspy with emotion.

Robbie smiled as he put aside the box and its contents. "Sure, I'll be right back."

After he left, John got up from the couch and just like he'dalways done, walked over to the mantle to look at the photos. His heartache still present after all these years. A single tear rolled down his cheek as he looked again at his friend's face.

"Sorry, Rodney" . . . he whispered . . .

Robbie had paused at the door, staring back at the sad look on his uncle's face as the man went over to the mantle . . . it was heartbreaking . . .

The next year . . .

John had trouble coming up the steps with his bag of presents in one hand and his cane in the other. His leg was giving him trouble, arthritis had set in from the wound he had received on the day he lost both his best friend and Atlantis. It was one more reminder of his failure to save his friend.

This time he was greeted by a smiling Robbie, looking so much like Rodney, John almost thought he was seeing his friend alive.

"Uncle John, come in. I have to show you something after dinner."

John nodded, just like Rodney, probably invented something that he wanted to show off.

"Sure."

Later, Robbie took him down to the basement, where he had a large room that had become a work room and lab for the boy genius. John was surprised at all the electronics set up inside the room. It reminded him of Rodney's lab on Atlantis.

"I was able to take all the information off Uncle Rodney's computer hard drive."

John smiled, "Of course you did, I'm not surprised."

"It was amazing what he was working on, but the best thing was that gift he gave you." Robbie waited for John's reaction.

John looked at him quizzically, "What was it?"

"Well, I haven't tested it, since I can't activate it without the ancient gene, but best I can tell is that it creates a displacement field and moves objects."

John smiled, " Just like Rodney to give me something like that with no practical use."

"Wait, I've worked on this for the past year and I'm pretty sure I fixed it. With your gene we could try it out?" Robbie's eager face was beaming as he waited for an answer.

John laughed at that look, remembering all the times Rodney wore it on his face, "Well, I've nothing to lose, let me give it a go."

Robbie smiled happily as he took the gadget from the small box and handed it to John to activate.

Though skeptical and not wanting to blow himself up, John tried to gently turn it on with his mind. When that didn't work, he looked for a switch and found one. Feeling silly, he just grinned at Robbie, "Here goes nothing!" then pushed the switch on the side of the device.

It started to glow and both men stared at it in awe. "Wow," was all the boy could say.

John just laughed, " Rodney always did like glowing devices."

Robbie reached out for the artifact and John handed it over to him. The teenager smiled and looked at John regretfully, for he knew more about the object than he had let on. He hoped this worked and John accepted what was about to happen.

Opening a cover on the front of the device he aimed the lens inside at John.

Sheppard 's eyes opened wide "What are you doing . . . " was all he said before a flash of light from the device enveloped him and he disappeared.

Robbie's heart was pounding, he would have to wait and see if what he hoped would happen took place . . . He had faith in John figuring it out . . . His uncle's instructions on its use had been very specific.

So here he waited as the artifact continued to glow . . .

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John found himself on Atlantis, the Asurans were cornered and he and the Marines were trying to take them out. A sudden insight told him what was about to happen, he needed to get to the control room!

Once more he found himself running down Atlantis's hallways to the control room where McKay and Zelenka were working. He heard the shots in the distance and feared he was too late.

When he entered the room, the same scene from his mind was playing out. Zelenka was on the floor and Rodney was firing at the Replicator who continued to walk toward him. John remembered what happened before and shouted at Rodney making the scientist turn and look toward him just as the Asuran fired.

John's heart sank as he saw his friend fall and once again he felt another shot impact his leg as he in turn shot the Asuran and it shattered all over the floor.

Heart pounding, he half ran and half crawled toward the consol, knowing what he was going to find . . . seeing Rodney lying there hurt more than even he could stand . . .

Not Again . . .

Rodney lay still as John sat down beside him, pulling his friend's upper body onto his lap and resting Rodney's head on his arm. Heart broken, he looked for the chest wound, but was surprised when he didn't find it. Instead the shot had hit the scientist in the side. It wasn't a fatal wound as it had barely grazed him.

McKay's eyes opened, looking up at Sheppard, he managed a whispered, "What took you so long?"

John smiled as his eyes started to water . . .

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Robbie heard the clunk of the cane coming down the basement stairs and his heart sank, thinking that nothing had worked. His uncle John must have either arrived too late or hadn't been sent back to the time he had set the device for.

John entered the room, but someone else followed him in, another smiling face greeted Robbie.

"Uncle Rodney!", Robbie's face broke into a happy grin . . . It worked

"What's that thing?" John asked, noticing the gadget the boy was holding.

Robbie suddenly realized he still held the artifact. It was slowly losing its glow, as the internal power supply slowly depleted.

Before Robbie could answer, Rodney looked knowingly at him, "Something that he should put down quickly, as it seems to be shutting down."

Robbie saw something in Rodney's eyes then and suddenly realized his uncle knew what he'd done.

Of course it was his after all . . .

John spoke up, "Your mother sent us down to get you, she's serving that famous punch of hers and wants you upstairs."

Robbie, was at a loss for words, overcome by his success, and the realization that Uncle Rodney knew . . . "Sure, um, I'll just put it back in the box."

Once he released the artifact, the glow slowly faded and died out.

A sudden strange feeling washed over him, as he realized the memory of what he had done was slowly fading from his mind.

When he looked at his two uncles they were still smiling as they left to go upstairs. Whatever he had been thinking before suddenly vanished from his mind.

Robbie fondly watched both men leave as he remembered all the past Christmases his Uncle Rodney and his adopted Uncle John and their wives had spent with them. Always coming from Atlantis to spend the holidays with Rodney's sister and her family.

He also realized how much he loved this time of year, always enjoying the friendly bickering between his Uncles. They made him laugh and he could see a twinkle in John's eyes whenever he got the best of Uncle Rodney . . .

The sound of the two men's voices floated down the hall . . . "Don't drink too much of that punch this year, Sheppard, you know what happened last year!"

"I didn't get drunk!", was the indignant reply.

"You so did! I had to pick you up!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

Robbie just smiled...

End