Author: atlantis child (Command Dynamics), innocent choir girl Lost

Chapter: 1 – "Helplessness"

Summary: The Wraith return to Atlantis again. Spoilers for all seasons one and two.

Genres: Angst, Drama,Mystery & Suspense

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: Abuse, Character Death, Torture, Violence

Author's Note: I apologize now for any errors I may make… I tried to make sure the things I were iffy on were really gonna work with a friend, so hopefully anything I may have messed up isn't too bad! If it is, then I'll just say it's my own insanity version ;)

Wraith darts ran their courses as close to the city as possible, dropping down Wraith and sweeping up food as they went. A couple of the darts targeted towers and crashed into them sending the occupants all over the place.

Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard could only keep off the incoming Wraith with his fellow puddle jumper pilots. With the chair out of probes and the city with not enough power to hold up the shield, the jumpers were the only line of defense. Yes, there were ground troops firing, but not nearly as many as the last time the Wraith had attacked Atlantis directly. The Daedalus was currently on its way, but John saw it as useless. It was much too far away to help them now.

The horror he saw, the city falling to the Wraith. But he knew that would not happen. They had safe guards in place. Earth would be protected. The crystal to dial to Earth had been moved from Atlantis to its Alpha Site long before the Wraith had even arrived. Sheppard had watched as the city's remaining personnel had been scooped up and taken by the Wraith. More darts had even crashed into the ancient city… Flames and smoke occupied much of the once majestic city of the ancients.

Helplessness was a horrible feeling. And that's what he felt. Try as he may, his efforts seemed like nothing. Ultimately when he lost all contact with Atlantis, and he could feel it was lost; he called for the remaining puddle jumpers to leave Atlantis. They'd go into hiding and wait for the Daedalus to return.

He had promised. Promised that if all seemed lost he wouldn't turn it into a suicide mission. But it had been a suicide mission, not for him, but for the Atlantis personnel. He had lost Elizabeth. Losing Atlantis wasn't making his heart feel like it was being squeezed, it was the fact that she had been there when Atlantis had been lost.

John let his head fall and let his tears fall. He should have insisted she leave, but he knew even then she wouldn't have left. He could remember her face so clearly. Remember when he had first met Elizabeth, when they had first left for Atlantis, when he had last seen her. John could hear her voice trying to reassure him and then later the whole city that all would be well, as she had done before he had left.

The evacuation of Atlantis had begun even before the Wraith had come. They had had enough warning of the impending event and the size of it that they were able to move the Athosians to a new site along with any non-essential personnel. It had been hard to give up like that so quickly, but the size of the fleet had shaken them all. Colonel Caldwell had taken the Daedalus back to Earth to retrieve more supplies to help defend Atlantis against the Wraith, but his calculations had been off. The Wraith had come before the Daedalus could return.

When the Daedalus finally arrived, the Wraith had left. The puddle jumpers were cloaked above the planet. Caldwell didn't even ask for details, instead just ordered the jumpers back to Atlantis.

Caldwell along with a tactical team and a medical team transported down to Atlantis and slowly made their way towards the jumper bay. He found Sheppard along with the rest of the jumper pilots waiting. "My teams are making sure its all clear," Caldwell told them.

Sheppard merely nodded and pulled out his weapon and Atlantean life signs detector. There was no use in them just standing there. They might as well be doing something productive.

"Colonel—"

"Move out," Sheppard called to his small team. He didn't want to hear Caldwell's excuses…his sympathy… He just wanted to get this done with. To find out and see for himself that she was gone.

And he did…

All personnel were gone. They had found a few skeletons, but no one alive. Colonel Sheppard had remained solely in military mode. He'd grieve for Elizabeth and the others later…

TBC…