Three Months Ago:
Izzy glanced at Verizzano as she ran across the warehouse. She thought she saw him smile, but she couldn't be sure and she didn't have time to look again. She could feel the heat of the explosion as it began to engulf the warehouse and knew she had only seconds to make it to the water side exit. She reached the exit just as the final set of explosives went off, but Izzy did not look back to see if Verizzano was still standing. She took a deep breath and leaped from the building, aiming for the water.
Izzy felt the force of the explosion catch her and throw her towards the water. She slammed into the lake, water flooding in through her nose and mouth, filling her lungs. She felt a pop somewhere in her lower back, but felt no pain as the darkness overtook her. Her last thought was of Owen and then she was gone.
Her soul drifted, entering the blinding white of the ether between worlds. It was just as beautiful as D.J. had described it. Izzy glanced around her and found, to her astonishment, the last person she had ever expected to see, Jessica Enverson her handler with the R.C.M.P.
"Jess?" Izzy whispered. "Is that you? What are you doing here?"
"Didn't anyone tell you Izzy?" Jessica asked. "I was killed in a traffic accident more than a year ago. Some drunk t-boned me and I woke up in the Ghost World."
"Oh, God Jess, I didn't know." said Izzy. "No one told me. That explains why you weren't at my wedding."
"Yes, I'm sorry I missed that." Jessica said, her voice full of sorrow. "I'm sorry for sounding so self pitying, it is nice to see you again Izzy. Although it would have been better if we could have met under better circumstances."
"Yeah." said Izzy. "I wish I could have seen you again before you died. We could have burned down another R.C.M.P. Station or something."
Jessica laughed. "Yeah, that would have been fun, but we won't get the chance to do it and unfortunately we won't get to continue this conversation either."
"Why not?" Izzy asked, cocking her head to one side.
"Because, you are not part of the afterlife yet." said Jessica. "You have to go back, it is not yet your time to pass on."
"But, how is that possible?" Izzy asked. "There is no way I should have survived that explosion or the impact from the water."
"Yes, well, sometimes things don't work out the way we think they will." said Jessica. "Go back Izzy, you have so much left to live for. I do want to say one more thing, you may find it hard to move when you wake up, but don't worry it's not anything serious." She smiled and began fading away.
"Thank you Jessica, for everything." said Izzy, as she drifted back towards life.
Izzy awoke to find herself lying in a strange bed. Her head was pounding and the lights hurt her eyes. She tried to sit up, but found herself unable to move. For a moment, she panicked, but then she remembered Jessica's words. Izzy took a deep breath and a sharp pain shot through her chest. She gasped at the pain and retched, but manged to keep the vomit down. Again she tried to sit up, but her spine did not seem to want to bend. Izzy pushed herself and heard a crack, making her freeze.
"Whoa there, let's not push yourself to much." a voice called. "You'll do more damage."
Izzy looked around for the source of the voice, her eyes finding a young man with long hair and a scruffy beard. He was watching her intently, a kind expression on his face.
"Who are you? Where am I?" Izzy asked, her voice horse and croaky.
"Now, now don't get all suspicious." the man said, walking over to her. "My name is John McCormac and your on my boat."
Izzy looked at him, her expression confused. "Your boat?" she asked.
"Yeah, my boat." John replied. "I'm a fisherman and a doctor. My crew and I fished you out of the lake, thought you were dead at first."
"The lake?" Izzy asked. "You fished me out of the lake?"
"Yep, no idea what you were doin' in there though." said John.
Suddenly it all came back to her, a flood of memories Izzy had almost forgotten. She had been fighting Verizzano, the explosives had failed, she had fixed them, triggered the explosion and then been thrown into the lake. She had entered the ether and seen Jessica and then she had woken up here.
"I think I was fighting an assassin and I blew up a warehouse to kill him." said Izzy. "That's how I ended up in the lake, the force of the explosion threw me into the water."
"Hmm, that certainly fits with what we saw when we found you." said John. "There was a warehouse that looked like it had been blown to hell and signs of a battle. It's been all over the news too." He shrugged.
"Did the news say who won or who the survivors were?" Izzy asked.
"No." John replied. "It's kinda strange, you think they would have, but there's nothing on any of that."
Izzy stared at him a moment and then tried for a third time to sit up. Once again, she failed. "Uh, why can't I sit up?" she asked. "And why do I have no feeling in my legs?"
John looked at her a moment before answering. "Um, well, you're paralyzed from the waist down." he said, looking Izzy in the eye. "Your spine is completely severed right above your hips."
Izzy stared at him for a long moment before she registered what he had said. "Paralyzed?" she asked. "Permanently paralyzed?" John nodded. Izzy stared at him a moment longer and then began to cry, the tears burning in her eyes.
"Hey now, don't cry. It'll be okay." said John, his voice calm and soothing. "Being paralyzed isn't so bad, at least your alive. There are far worse things than paralysis, my granddad was paralyzed in World War II and he was still able to do many of things he enjoyed."
Izzy looked at him and smiled through her tears. John was right, at least she was still alive. But paralysis had always been one of Izzy's greatest fears and now it had happened to her. No matter what John said, she would never be fully okay with this, but for now she would accept it as she didn't seem to have any other options.
For the next week the only person Izzy saw was John, and Owen when she slept. She knew there were four other people on the boat, John's crew, but she had not yet met any of them. Finally two weeks after waking up on the boat John brought Izzy out to meet the rest of the crew and get some fresh air. Izzy drew a deep breath as John wheeled her bed onto the deck, her eyes falling on the crew. John smiled and introduced the crew. "Okay, this here is Dax Goodman." he said, indicating a tall, muscular black man with dreadlocks. Dax nodded.
"This is Tania Sanchez." he said, gesturing at a pale skinned woman, with long dark hair. Tania smiled and waved.
"Shoji Ruika." John said, indicating a Japanese man with spiky hair and glasses. Shoji smiled and bowed. "And finally, Kyle Holmen." He indicated a big bellied man with a shaved head and goatee.
John turned to his crew. "And this, is Isabella Dockins who prefers to go by Izzy." Izzy smiled and nodded. The crew gave greetings and then John turned back to Izzy. "Welcome Izzy, to the Iron Dragon." Izzy smiled again, liking the name of the boat. She wanted to get back to the others, but for now she was willing to live with these strangers.
A/N: Okay, so a few notes for clarification. First, yes Izzy is still alive and I know some of you are going to be annoyed that I brought a character back from the dead again, but I promise, this is the last time it'll happen. Also, I decided that the reason Izzy was on the run from the RCMP is cuz she was training with them and "accidentally" burned down her station. And finally, this is part one of a two part chapter that chronicles Izzy's journey back to the gang, though I will put no more breaks to indicate the passage of time so the time jumps may seem a bit wonky, sorry.