Fic: All Saints Day (PG)
Title: All Saints Day
Author: SGAtlantisLight
Characters: Weir, Kavanaugh, Teyla, Ronon
Relationships: Kavanaugh/Sumner
Rating: PG
Warnings: Angst. No smut.
Spoilers: References to Rising II, Hot Zone, Siege I-III, Brotherhood, The Defiant One, Trinity, Conversion
Summary: Weir needs pictures of Atlantis's fallen for a commemoration service.
Disclaimer: The characters, the setting, etc. are NOT mine, even if I wish they were.
The lovely aquaangel made the cover for this.
The cafeteria had been festooned with orange and black, little drawings of black cats and smiling ghosts and bats. Nothing too scary. Atlantis had enough of truly horrific things to occupy their time, so Halloween was done for laughs and silliness instead. Weir had been explaining the origin of Halloween to Teyla and Ronon, which led to an explanation of All Saints Day.
Teyla had nodded appreciatively. "Remembering those who have sacrificed themselves for your people is important. Their names must be carried on your children's lips to the next generation."
"It's not celebrated that much anymore."
"Why not?" Ronon asked.
Weir shrugged. "I guess we just like the fun holidays more."
"Then how do you pass on the names to those who come after. Even here, only a year and a half since you have come, there are so many new people who do not truly know those who have been lost. It is unfortunate."
"You know, you're right. It is," Weir said. "I think it's time Atlantis had its own All Saints Day. Thank you, Teyla."
***
Date: Oct 10, 2005
To: All personnel
From: Dr. E. Weir
Subject: Commemoration Day (Was: All Saints Day)
LtCol. J. Sheppard wrote:
> Dr. R. McKay wrote:
> > Oh, please, Elizabeth, do we have to have such a
> religious
> > -sounding holiday? I realise that Memorial Day
> and
> > Remembrance Day are already taken, but much as I
> > respected some of them, these people weren't
> saints.
> > Come up with some other name.
> I think it's a great idea. I don't really care about the name.
> Since it's going to be Nov 1, I suppose it's appropriate,
> but it does have a religious ring to it.
All right, gentlemen. Calm down. When I suggested it, I wasn't
really thinking of calling it All Saints Day. I simply wanted
everyone to understand the gist of it. As such, I've named the
ceremony Commemoration Day.
Now, what I need from everyone is pictures of our fallen
comrades. I have headshots from their files, obviously, but I'd
like some more humanizing shots. I'm going to be using them in
a video production. Please, email all pictures to me privately
rather than replying to this thread. Thank you.
***
Elizabeth frowned. She had a week and she still had an awful lot of people for whom she only the headshots from the personnel files. Someone cleared his throat and she looked up to see Kavanaugh standing in her doorway.
"Dr. Kavanaugh, what can I do for you?"
He held up a CD. "I have some pictures for your video. There's a lot, so I decided not to email them."
"Oh, good. I could use more." She relaxed a bit, relieved that he wasn't here to complain, and took the CD, slipping it into her laptop and opening the directory. "Wow. There are a lot."
"I'm a bit of a shutterbug," he admitted. "I used to drive security at the SGC to distraction."
She laughed. "I can see that!"
She paged through the pictures, seeing images of a lot of the lost science personnel. Some had been taken back at the SGC or Antarctica and some on Atlantis. Here was Brendan Gall, firing a rubber band gun, laughing, the scene behind him marking it as clearly SGC. Collins glancing up from a laptop, Wagner in the middle of a chess game, Hayes trying to hide his face, Dumais with her mouth open about ready to take a bite of bagel, Grodin in the lab in Antarctica. More faces. She was surprised when Markham's face appeared on the screen. It was simply a shot of him in the mess at the SGC. Kavanaugh had obviously cropped it from a larger picture based on the pixilation. Another followed of Lieutenant Radner, also from the SGC days, then Walker and Stevens playing cards with Lorne in the SGC mess hall. Her heart almost stopped when an image of Colonel Marshall Sumner came next, but it was terribly blurry, obviously taken from a larger image. A couple more shots of late science personnel followed, then she hit the end.
She sighed. "Too bad you don't have any better shots of Colonel Sumner. Not that I was expecting to find any."
"There's a subdirectory," he said quietly.
She raised her eyebrows in surprise and looked closer. Yes, indeed, there was a subdirectory labeled 'MSpics' that she hadn't noticed. The first picture showed a man who could have been Sumner, bundled against the snow, on skis. Another followed of him building a snowman. A third sitting next to a Christmas tree, opening a gift. Then there was Sumner in his dress uniform, smiling proudly. Sumner digging in the garden came next, then Sumner in a pool somewhere, grinning at the camera. The next, he was laying in a hammock, eyes closed. Then he was hiking through the Rockies.
The last picture showed him in jeans and a flannel shirt, sitting on a front porch somewhere, smiling easily, a light in his eyes, showing off a Jack-o-lantern he had apparently carved. Behind him, the mailbox mounted to the house read 'C. Kavanaugh.'
She looked up at Kavanaugh, seeing him through different eyes. "I'm... I'm sorry. I never knew."
He shrugged. "No one did. No one could."
She nodded. "I like the last picture a lot. Is it okay if I use it?"
"You can use any picture on that disk, Dr. Weir."
"But... the mailbox."
"I know," Kavanaugh said. "But, after a year and half, I don't think anyone will care."
"Thank you. I'll use it, then."
"Good."
There was the glimmer of a tear in his eye as he turned away and walked out of her office. Weir considered his retreating back and decided he was wrong. After a year and half, someone should care-- should care that one of their own had had to grieve in silence. Never again, she vowed. Never again.
Author: SGAtlantisLight
Characters: Weir, Kavanaugh, Teyla, Ronon
Relationships: Kavanaugh/Sumner
Rating: PG
Warnings: Angst. No smut.
Spoilers: References to Rising II, Hot Zone, Siege I-III, Brotherhood, The Defiant One, Trinity, Conversion
Summary: Weir needs pictures of Atlantis's fallen for a commemoration service.
Disclaimer: The characters, the setting, etc. are NOT mine, even if I wish they were.
The lovely aquaangel made the cover for this.
The cafeteria had been festooned with orange and black, little drawings of black cats and smiling ghosts and bats. Nothing too scary. Atlantis had enough of truly horrific things to occupy their time, so Halloween was done for laughs and silliness instead. Weir had been explaining the origin of Halloween to Teyla and Ronon, which led to an explanation of All Saints Day.
Teyla had nodded appreciatively. "Remembering those who have sacrificed themselves for your people is important. Their names must be carried on your children's lips to the next generation."
"It's not celebrated that much anymore."
"Why not?" Ronon asked.
Weir shrugged. "I guess we just like the fun holidays more."
"Then how do you pass on the names to those who come after. Even here, only a year and a half since you have come, there are so many new people who do not truly know those who have been lost. It is unfortunate."
"You know, you're right. It is," Weir said. "I think it's time Atlantis had its own All Saints Day. Thank you, Teyla."
***
Date: Oct 10, 2005
To: All personnel
From: Dr. E. Weir
Subject: Commemoration Day (Was: All Saints Day)
LtCol. J. Sheppard wrote:
> Dr. R. McKay wrote:
> > Oh, please, Elizabeth, do we have to have such a
> religious
> > -sounding holiday? I realise that Memorial Day
> and
> > Remembrance Day are already taken, but much as I
> > respected some of them, these people weren't
> saints.
> > Come up with some other name.
> I think it's a great idea. I don't really care about the name.
> Since it's going to be Nov 1, I suppose it's appropriate,
> but it does have a religious ring to it.
All right, gentlemen. Calm down. When I suggested it, I wasn't
really thinking of calling it All Saints Day. I simply wanted
everyone to understand the gist of it. As such, I've named the
ceremony Commemoration Day.
Now, what I need from everyone is pictures of our fallen
comrades. I have headshots from their files, obviously, but I'd
like some more humanizing shots. I'm going to be using them in
a video production. Please, email all pictures to me privately
rather than replying to this thread. Thank you.
***
Elizabeth frowned. She had a week and she still had an awful lot of people for whom she only the headshots from the personnel files. Someone cleared his throat and she looked up to see Kavanaugh standing in her doorway.
"Dr. Kavanaugh, what can I do for you?"
He held up a CD. "I have some pictures for your video. There's a lot, so I decided not to email them."
"Oh, good. I could use more." She relaxed a bit, relieved that he wasn't here to complain, and took the CD, slipping it into her laptop and opening the directory. "Wow. There are a lot."
"I'm a bit of a shutterbug," he admitted. "I used to drive security at the SGC to distraction."
She laughed. "I can see that!"
She paged through the pictures, seeing images of a lot of the lost science personnel. Some had been taken back at the SGC or Antarctica and some on Atlantis. Here was Brendan Gall, firing a rubber band gun, laughing, the scene behind him marking it as clearly SGC. Collins glancing up from a laptop, Wagner in the middle of a chess game, Hayes trying to hide his face, Dumais with her mouth open about ready to take a bite of bagel, Grodin in the lab in Antarctica. More faces. She was surprised when Markham's face appeared on the screen. It was simply a shot of him in the mess at the SGC. Kavanaugh had obviously cropped it from a larger picture based on the pixilation. Another followed of Lieutenant Radner, also from the SGC days, then Walker and Stevens playing cards with Lorne in the SGC mess hall. Her heart almost stopped when an image of Colonel Marshall Sumner came next, but it was terribly blurry, obviously taken from a larger image. A couple more shots of late science personnel followed, then she hit the end.
She sighed. "Too bad you don't have any better shots of Colonel Sumner. Not that I was expecting to find any."
"There's a subdirectory," he said quietly.
She raised her eyebrows in surprise and looked closer. Yes, indeed, there was a subdirectory labeled 'MSpics' that she hadn't noticed. The first picture showed a man who could have been Sumner, bundled against the snow, on skis. Another followed of him building a snowman. A third sitting next to a Christmas tree, opening a gift. Then there was Sumner in his dress uniform, smiling proudly. Sumner digging in the garden came next, then Sumner in a pool somewhere, grinning at the camera. The next, he was laying in a hammock, eyes closed. Then he was hiking through the Rockies.
The last picture showed him in jeans and a flannel shirt, sitting on a front porch somewhere, smiling easily, a light in his eyes, showing off a Jack-o-lantern he had apparently carved. Behind him, the mailbox mounted to the house read 'C. Kavanaugh.'
She looked up at Kavanaugh, seeing him through different eyes. "I'm... I'm sorry. I never knew."
He shrugged. "No one did. No one could."
She nodded. "I like the last picture a lot. Is it okay if I use it?"
"You can use any picture on that disk, Dr. Weir."
"But... the mailbox."
"I know," Kavanaugh said. "But, after a year and half, I don't think anyone will care."
"Thank you. I'll use it, then."
"Good."
There was the glimmer of a tear in his eye as he turned away and walked out of her office. Weir considered his retreating back and decided he was wrong. After a year and half, someone should care-- should care that one of their own had had to grieve in silence. Never again, she vowed. Never again.