It was coming up to Christmas time on Atlantis, and everyone was excited. The majority on the SGA teams had been sent off-world to find and bring back suitable Christmas trees to place around the ancient city, and the Daedalus was due to arrive soon with boxes full of decorations. Telya was with the rest of the Athosians, and Ronon was with her, helping clear the snow from the mainland.

There was just one thing missing in the city, It was far too quiet. Music. John Sheppard, military commander of the base had woken up that morning and realized that the familiar sound of Christmas music was not filling his ears. Obviously nobody else had thought about it or someone would have fixed the issue. John however, had a brilliant idea. Atlantis loved John more than anyone else on the base, since he had the strongest gene in the city, followed by Doctor Carson Beckett. Surely if he asked politely, Atlantis would play something. Sheppard closed his eyes and connected himself to the legendary city.

Rodney McKay was in his lab, tinkering with an ancient devise that SGA-10 had stumbled across. He was just about to walk out of is lab when he heard a noise. It wasn't a sound that he had heard for a long time, though it was somewhat recognizable. The sound of 'I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday' filled the air. Loudly. Playing from where though? That was what puzzled Rodney the most. 

He stepped out of his lab and looked left and right. There was no one around.  Confused, he wondered down the corridor. Perhaps one of the labs? The scientists in the rooms further up were known for being obnoxiously loud and probably had their radio on full volume. He peered through the doorway and saw that it was empty. Then he remembered they were also off-world. 

What the hell is going on? He thought.

John was making his way down to the jumper bay, whistling in time with the tune. He was planning on hiding out in his favorite puddle jumper, maybe eating a turkey sandwich and finally catching up on a couple of pages of War and Peace, since he'd had it for almost a year and had read only 14 pages. Climbing into the seat at the front, he opened up a secret compartment that was under the chair that he was 99% certain that only he knew about, which he intended to keep that way. He rummaged through the bits and pieces that he had brought back from each planet he had so far visited (for the memories) and finally reached the bottom where he could feel the creased front cover of his book. He pulled it out, careful not to drop the rest of the secret compartment's contents, and ran his fingers over the pages. They were an off-white colour, dogeared and torn at the sides. It was a book he had taken everywhere, in case they were ever to get stuck off-world in the jumper with nothing to do, quite smart of him actually. He found the  page where he had last left off, and lent back, beginning to read.

Mckay had still not found the source of the music, which had long time ago switched to 'I don't want a lot for Christmas' and he was in a foul mood because of it. He had already tried to pinpoint the sound, yet couldn't find a lead. Strangely there was no "louder" or "quieter", it was just a continuous stream of noise. No one was around that part of the city though so he couldn't exactly ask anyone. He began to wonder if it was Atlantis trying to annoy the hell out of him, but then again he doubted an ancient abandoned city built by beings from over 10000 years ago had ever heard a Christmas song. Unless.... ah ha! he though. Sheppard! "Only he could make the city play those damn songs. He really is the city's favourite," he muttered to himself. 

John Sheppard, completely oblivious to the man frantically running around outside the jumper bay doors, was almost about to complete page 22, which he personally felt was a massive achievement. He was just contemplating getting up and retrieving a turkey sandwich from the mess hall when he heard the jumper bay doors open with a crash. He sat up with a jolt and rushed out the backdoor. 

"What the hell-" 

"I knew it was you-

"-is going on?"

"-it could only have been you!"

John looked up and saw a sweating Rodney McKay marching towards him.

"Jesus Mckay, slam that door any harder and you would have given me a heart attack! Now what are you so red-faced about? And what do you mean 'it could only have been me'?"

"The music! I've been trying to find out where it was coming from all morning and why it was even playing, only to find out it was you? And more to the point, how the hell are you doing that? I wouldn't have thought that even you could have a gene strong enough to ask an ancient city to play Christmas songs. Besides, was Christmas even a thing then? And how the heck did the city even know those songs?" he huffed, trailing off in endless stream of questions.

"To be honest, I don't know. Atlantis and I have this weird bond meaning that I can hear her. It's like a soft hum at the back of my head. I guess I just tried to focus on it and asked if she could play some Christmas songs, to get into the festive spirit. Y'know?"

Rodney simply gaped.

"You mean you can hear Atlantis? How is that even possible? Wait... Is this seriously where you have been all those times when you were off duty and no one could seem to find you?"

"Er, yeah. Pretty much."

"Ah... well...I forgot to mention that the off-world teams should be back in a minute and Weir has requested that you get to the gate room. Apparently Lorne and his goons found an island full of for trees. There were hundreds of thousands. They've brought an awful lot back and need all off-duty personnel to help place them around the city. 

"Sure, Let's go." 

Atlantis? Could you please turn it up in the gate room? I want my guys to have a surprise waiting for them. 

And with that he grinned and strolled towards the direction of the gate room with Rodney trailing after him, head in a laptop, obviously thinking up many possible tests and experiments to do with John's unique gene.