Disclaimer: I do not own the Stargate franchise or any of its characters from the movie/show you may recognize. I only own my character Isabelle and other minor characters you don't recognize, along with the storyline.

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Chapter 4

Onslaught

The next morning, Isabelle woke up earlier than the others. Everyone was still asleep from the celebration of the night before; the people of Mironel had planned a feast for their return.

She walked out of Avrine's home to find that the townspeople had returned to their routines. Their constant greetings made her feel a sense of déjà vu – she thought back to the subtle comments from others indicating that she had not only been here before, but must have spent considerable amount of time here.

The thought of traveling to another world had made her anxious, but now being in Mironel, it gave her a sense of comfort. The past few days, Isabelle had been so overwhelmed from finding herself in an extraordinary situation that she hadn't given much thought to the cause of her amnesia. Sheppard had mentioned that this mission might jog her memory; Isabelle wondered if this was the last place she had been before her trauma.

"Isabelle!"

Isabelle turned to see a blonde woman walking towards her. The woman's large blue eyes reminded her of dolls she used to play with as a child. Although her features were the epitome of innocence, the lack of happiness in her eyes and the darkness that surrounded them contradicted it.

Isabelle stood motionless as the woman came to a stop a few inches in front of her.

"I heard you all came back yesterday, but I wasn't feeling well—," she paused, "Avrine told me what happened with you…I'm sorry to hear that. How have you been coping?"

"Alright, I suppose," Isabelle replied, feeling a little uncomfortable conversing with someone she didn't know, "I'm sorry – I don't remember what your—

"Leira, I apologize," she smiled, her dimples showed, "I'm not being completely considerate here, am I?"

"Oh, no, you're fine. I promise..." Isabelle tried to be assuring. She saw Leira smile, but that smile didn't reflect in her eyes. It seemed as though she was bothered by something, but didn't know how to voice it.

"Do you maybe, um, have some time?" Leira asked with some effort.

"Yea, sure."

Leira led them down the center street passing through a marketplace, where grocers were currently setting up their booths. The walk there was accompanied by small-talk mostly initiated by Leira. Isabelle could tell she was trying not to delve right into the discussion; but either ease her way in or avoid it all together.

Finally Leira began, "I'm not sure you remember, but when you came here, you told us you worked as doctor – one who helped people with emotional problems."

"That's right."

"Well," Leira's fingers pulled on the bottom of her dress, "at one point during your stay, I asked you for help—"

They were on the edge of the marketplace now, heading towards the woods. Isabelle wanted to turn back, but didn't want to interrupt Leira's thoughts.

"—I had watched my mother and younger brother get attacked by the wraith."

Wraith?

"My mother died protecting him, but my brother survived…somehow. Only now he dies slowly every day. It's as if the whole thing has traumatized him to the point where he thinks that if he makes any sudden movements the wraith will return and kill him," Leira paused to breathe in and shut her eyes for a moment, "you had helped him realize that he was safe. He started talking to me, playing with other kids but when the wraith attacked again and you left—

Isabelle watched Leira's anguish for her brother. She felt guilty, how could she have left a patient without completing the therapy. Unless she was forced to leave….

"I need you to help me again, Isabelle," Leira begged, her eyes filled with emotion that was absent when they had first met, "I can't watch him deteriorate like this – what will he do when I'm not here for him. He doesn't have anyone else – he needs to realize that he can live, that he's allowed to live."

Isabelle took Leira's hands in hers, "I'll help him…I promise."

Leira smiled, tears overflowing from her eyes and rushing down her pale cheeks, "Thank you, Isabelle. Thank you so much."

Isabelle was then pulled into a swift embrace – she had forgotten what it felt like to help people. But she needed more information if she wanted to help her brother, she pulled away from the hug, "Leira, there are some things I will need you to tell me—

"Isabelle!"

Both women turned to the source of the voice to find Sheppard standing at the edge of the wood. They both headed towards him.

"Isabelle," Sheppard spoke firmly, "you can't go wandering off like that, especially without your earpiece. You should've told—

"I apologize, Colonel," Leira interjected, "I am at fault for leading her all the way out here. I lost track of where we were."

Sheppard sighed, "That's alright, Leira…just tell us next time."

Leira nodded, smiled at both of them and walked off towards the town.

Isabelle mimicked her actions as Sheppard followed, "What were you two talking about?"

Isabelle looked at his furrowed brow and noticed that he wasn't angry, instead he was worried, "She just wanted to talk about her brother. Did you know him?"

"Yea…cute little guy. Demeyr, he got quite attached you here."

Her eyes dithered before meeting his gaze, "So why did I leave?"

Sheppard walked unwavering, staring ahead, unresponsive to her question.

Isabelle felt her insides twist at his lack of reaction, "What happened? Was it something bad?"

Silence.

"It wasn't by choice, was it?" She continued her interrogation.

At this, Sheppard halted and turned to face her, "Something happened alright…we needed to get out of here, but it wasn't like we were going to forget them. McKay came back to help setup the wraith shield and Keller helped with the wounded, even transporting some to Atlantis."

"Was it a wraith attack?"

Sheppard looked shocked but quickly gathered his composure, "Leira told you."

"Colonel, what is a wraith?"

ooOoo

Isabelle wasn't sure she believed Sheppard's explanation, but then again she was in another galaxy traveling through wormholes to visit other worlds, so who was she to doubt the veracity of his words. Maybe there really were monstrous, ghost-like creatures that fed on human beings' lives, while flying around in "wraith darts"

The walk back Avrine's home was a short one; there was no awkwardness that usually existed when Sheppard and Isabelle were alone. As they walked along, Isabelle saw McKay heading out into the forest with some men. She wondered if it had anything to do with the shield Theos had mentioned. Since Sheppard made no mention of it, she assumed all was well.

As the distance between them and Avrine's home decreased, Isabelle began to notice a figure standing a few feet away from the doorstep. She squinted and focused her eyes to find that the figure was Evran.

"Hello, Isabelle," he greeted once she reached close enough to hear, "Colonel."

"Hi," Isabelle said warily, wondering what he wanted with her.

Once they had paused in front of him, Evran began hesitantly, "I've been meaning to talk to you for a while, but didn't know how."

She furrowed her brow, "Talk about what?"

Evran's eyes avoided their gaze, as if embarrassed.

An uncomfortable silence ensued, Isabelle looked over at Sheppard for help but encountered his unreceptive countenance and hostile stance directed towards Evran.

"Could we have a moment alone?" Evran stated, more than asked.

Sheppard reluctantly but surely walked away, but not before whispering, "I'll be nearby…."

Sheppard's antagonism made Isabelle cautious, wondering whether she should follow him. She watched as he slowly made his way up the doorstep and opened to door but paused.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about what happened between us," Evran grasped her attention.

Isabelle couldn't find her voice, "Wh—between us?

"I know you don't remember anything from your time here, but I still…I need to tell you that whatever happened – whatever I had said to you was premature."

"You don't need to do—

"No, let me finish," Evran continued, "when I told you that I was falling i-in love with you—it was just an infatuation."

"Ok," Isabelle found it more and more difficult to look him in the eyes.

"But," he found a cheerier tone, "now I'm sort of glad you rejected me when you did because I wouldn't have found out whom I was really meant for."

"Is that right?"

"Yes," Evran smiled, his sharp gray eyes twinkling, "Leira."

At this Isabelle finally looked up, "Leira?"

"Yes…I didn't believe it either, but her innocence, her maturity, her ability to find hope in even the most despondent situation made me realize how much I truly love her."

Hearing him speak about Leira in such a way, made Isabelle unconsciously look up towards Sheppard.

"That's why I have something to ask of you."

Isabelle brought her attention back to Evran, "What is it?"

"Demeyr, he is Leira's younger brother, we greatly appreciate everything you had done for him but he's—

"Leira spoke to me," Isabelle assured him, "I'll do what I can."

"Thank you very much, Isabelle, if you have time would you able to come with me now? He is currently at home."

Isabelle hesitated, once again looking in Sheppard's direction, hoping he'd reciprocate.

Evran seemed to understand, "We're very close from here…but if it's a bad time—

"No," Isabelled interjected, her professional persona getting the best of her, "now is fine."

"Alright, this way," Evran led her back in the direction from which she had come.

Isabelle wasn't even sure if Sheppard had noticed her leave, not that she was wary of Evran's intentions any longer, but something irked inside her, something felt out of place.

Moments later, from the corner of her eyes she saw Evran wave and looked ahead to see Leira step out of a beautiful, quaint home. A little boy with sandy brown hair and sun kissed skin followed. Isabelle guessed him to be Demeyr.

But before they could even get within hearing range, a loud hum sounded and suddenly a glow of white light beamed down from the sky encompassing Leira and Demery.

"NO!" Evran screamed.

Isabelle watched as the area which Leira and Demery previously occupied became empty as the beam traveled towards them. She suddenly felt herself being pushed as she roughly hit the ground. She looked up to see a vacant spot where Evran formerly stood. He was gone too. And so was white beam.

She heard screams throughout the village as white beams appeared and disappeared rapidly from objects flying through the sky.

Wraith darts?

The earth shook, sounds of explosions resounded, silencing the screams.

Isabelle lay there for what seemed like hours, trying to gather her senses. She realized she needed to get back with the team. She stood up and looked around, making sure the objects weren't above her. She had to go back to Avrine's home, that's where they would be. She would have to run all the way down the street. Isabelle gathered as much courage as her body would allow and ran.

As she ran for the other end of the street, she noticed something heading towards her. Something large, pale and grotesque…it was armed!

Oh shit! Could it be the wraith?

It started shooting at her with some kind of laser weapon. In panic, Isabelle ran off course and into abandoned shacks. Not looking to see what was behind her out of fear, Isabelle continued to run as fast as she could. She looked around and saw a few other creatures running out of the forest in her direction.

She felt someone grab her arm and pull her forcibly into one of the shacks. She landed with a thud onto the ground and felt something heavy on top of her. It was mostly dark inside the room, but slight cracks in the wall allowed in rays of light. The radiance highlighted half of their faces. Isabelle looked into his green eyes with curiosity and fright.

It took a moment to realize that it was Sheppard and he had saved her. Isabelle began to talk, but he covered her mouth with his hand to muffle the sound. A few seconds of confusion and then realization, Isabelle took his hand off of her mouth.

He was lying closer to her than she realized. Her chest was pushed against his; they were breathing in sync. Their legs were entwined; one of his between hers. He eventually lowered his head, as if exhausted. Nervous but afraid to make noise, Isabelle stayed quiet.

He was breathing on her neck; she was so afraid of what could happen any second. Isabelle felt as if they were lying on the ground for the longest time before he started to move. She felt his hair brush against her cheek, sending a shock through her.

While he moved himself off of her body, she felt relief as she could breathe easier. When his leg brushed against hers, she quickly retracted her own. He was resting one of his hands on her side, looking at her as if trying to memorize her face. Isabelle was mystified by his actions. It was as if he hadn't seen her in years or as if he thought he wouldn't see her again.

She finally spoke with barely audible volume, "You think we can go?"

He didn't respond, instead he looked at her lips.

Isabelle was terribly anxious, "Colonel?"

This time he looked her straight in the eyes and creased his brow. The longer he took to respond, the tenser she was getting. Finally he lifted himself off the ground and pulled Isabelle up by her arm. He took a look outside before leaving and motioning her to follow.

ooOoo

Apparently, Sheppard and the rest of the team had gotten separated when he went out looking for her. Now the two of them were headed back to the gate. Isabelle told him everything she had witnessed, mainly the traumatizing experience of seeing Leira, Demery and Evran disappear. She erroneously expected him to be as shaken as she was but realized he might have become desensitized over the years.

"What happened to them?" Isabelle asked, worrying the answer would be painful.

"The wraith took them," Sheppard stated bluntly.

"Are they—dead?"

Sheppard paused, "Not yet. But we'll find them…we'll try."

Isabelle wondered whether they would still be alive by the time these two made it to the gate, let alone continue to survive until they were found.

"What did Evran want to talk about?" He finally spoke.

"What?" Isabelle was bewildered…that was not a question she anticipated.

He looked away, "Nevermind…."

"After everything that's happened, you're asking me what Evran wanted to talk about? That's all you're thinking of right now?"

"That's why I said to forget it." He moved to remove a bottle of water out of his supply bag.

"What do you have against him, anyway?"

"Nothing," he just shrugged in response, as he drank the water.

Isabelle didn't believe him…something had been bothering him ever since he set eyes on Evran. Before she could get any form of an explanation from him, they both heard something fly above them.

"A wraith dart…" He thought aloud as he dropped the bottle back into the bag and ran towards her again.

Isabelle's eyes followed the dart, it hadn't seen them…yet. He grabbed her arm and forced her to run as fast as he did through the woods. They trailed off their path and hid among the vibrantly green bushes.

"How did they know we were here?" Isabelle asked as she let out shallow breaths.

Sheppard readied his gun and peered through the bush, to see if any wraith were present.

"I don't know." He looked over at her, and made her lie low. He gave her his excess supplies and told her to keep a vigilant eye out for any wraith.

Isabelle was nervous as hell, this was the first time she would have to encounter the wraith…how would she react? How would she defend herself...? How could she help Sheppard…?

"McKay, Ronon and Teyla?" Isabelle whispered loudly to herself.

Sheppard didn't look over, making it apparent that he was thinking the same thing. Wondering what had happened to them…if they were able to fight or escape….

The dart flew by again above them, making Isabelle shiver. After a few minutes, they didn't see or hear anyone approaching them. Isabelle thought they could leave, but Sheppard stopped her from standing up.

"Hold on…"

"But there's no one here."

"Shh…"

Isabelle sat quiet for a moment, listening carefully…she heard footsteps. Her eyes grew wider by the second, becoming aware of the fact that not just a one, but multiple wraith were approaching them – getting closer by the second.

She saw them through the bush, they were far from them but in line with their eyesight, yet hadn't spotted them. As soon as one of them lifted his stunner, a hoard of bullets entered his body. The other wraiths became wary and knew the direction from which the shots were coming.

Sheppard quickly grabbed Isabelle's arm and crawled behind a tree and told her to hide behind another bush.

"Stay there…don't move." Sheppard advised her quietly.

He was getting ready to shoot again as the wraith approached their previous hiding spot.

One of wraiths picked up something from beneath the soil and began to analyze it; Isabelle couldn't see what it was, very clearly. She looked over at Sheppard and saw him cringe when they picked it up – it looked like a necklace, but it wasn't his dog tags.

He wasn't shooting at them, even thought they were so close; he was looking at the object in the wraith's hands. The sunlight reflected off of its pendant into Isabelle's eyes, she backed up farther behind the bush and turned away from them.

Finally she heard Sheppard shoot continuously at them for what seemed like hours but it was only for a few minutes. She covered her ears from the loud noise it created, but it immediately stopped. She turned to see him gone – he wasn't behind the tree anymore. The Wraith were gone too; Isabelle observed her surroundings very quickly but didn't see anyone. She did see the necklace now lying on the ground, partially covered by the soil.

Isabelle moved towards the necklace, looking intently at it. It was a gold chain with a gold pendant with intricate designs and a pink pearl hanging at the bottom of it. She felt as if she had seen it before, but didn't recall where. She slowly lifted it in her hands, but before she could clean off the dirt, she heard the footsteps running towards her. Isabelle panicked, she didn't have any guns or protection with her – she had given it to Sheppard when she felt sick and couldn't carry it.

Before she could hide behind the same bush again, she screamed when someone grabbed her from behind. Isabelle saw the arm that was lying across her chest, it was a Wraith. She was terrified of what he would do to her – would it feed on her…as the others had called it or just take her captive. Isabelle's eyes looked around for Sheppard…but her vision was limited since the Wraith held her still.

Her defensive instinct kicked in; she needed to get away – Isabelle kicked his feet as hard as she could, elbowed him in the stomach then the face a couple of times, and finally was able to turn and punch him in the face. But all of that didn't throw him off his balance, it only made him loosen his grip on her, after which she was able to run away. Unfortunately she didn't get far enough, because he took only a few large strides and caught her once again.

The Wraith roughly turned her to face him, "It was unfortunate I couldn't feed on you last time."

Isabelle didn't know what he was talking about…Was he the one who was after me in the village?

She wanted to ask but thought of it to be unwise…becoming sociable with a Wraith before it fed on you. He lifted up his hand and she saw his eyes stare at her in hunger.

Suddenly she was pushed to the ground by a heavy force, and the wraith was no longer touching her. Isabelle looked up to see Sheppard pointing his gun at the wraith, but before he could make a move, Sheppard shot him point blank. The blood, if it could be called that, was splattered all over the trees and a little on her legs.

Isabelle stared in disgust and little amazement, never having seen someone die, even if it was an alien. Before she could thank Sheppard for saving her life, he walked over to her and roughly grabbed her arms. He pulled her up to her feet and she saw anger in his eyes. It frightened her to the core, she had never seen him angry…ever.

"When I tell you to stay low and hidden, you do what I say—you don't come out and willingly put yourself in danger!" He yelled at her.

"I'm sorry," she apologized sincerely, "I didn't realize—

"Just like you don't walk off without telling anyone where you're going," he held her tightly with his grips on her upper arms, slightly making her numb.

"You're hurting me," she whispered firmly.

"It was because you left with Evran that the rest of us got separated…someone had to go looking for you—"

Isabelle felt her eyes sting, something that was uncommon for her. She never displayed her emotions in a professional environment. But...she felt like she had disappointed him. She hadn't even been able to stay in one place like he had told her. She tried to release herself from his grip, but he was holding so tightly.

"—Next time you want to kill yourself, you do it on your own time…not when we're on a mission!" He released her fiercely and practically pushed her away from him.

She felt he had every right to be angry with her for making a rash decision, but he had no right to treat her this way or make her feel worse– she felt guilty already and he had no right to act as though she had done it all on purpose. She knew deep down inside that this isn't what he was like, but it still enraged her.

"Why do you care so much anyway?" Isabelle couldn't hold in her resentment.

Sheppard looked at her in anger when he heard her comment, but kept quiet.

"Why do you feel like you have the responsibility of taking care of me? You didn't save me today because I asked you to – you helped me because you felt obligated."

"You're a member of my team—

"Next time you feel like you have to put your life in danger for me…don't bother." Isabelle picked up her supply bag that was lying on the ground along with the necklace and placed it in her bag – not thinking that it belonged to Sheppard and not her.

She walked away from him on their original path, not worried that there might be other Wraith present. She didn't care if she died at the moment – she felt horrible for her mess up but even worse when he yelled at her. It made her feel incompetent – her eyes stung. She continued, not caring whether Sheppard was following her or not.

Apparently he had successfully shot down the Wraith dart earlier, because it wasn't flying around anymore. Isabelle kept walking ahead of Sheppard, not really knowing if she was heading the right direction. She was half-expecting him to say something to her, but he never did. They walked silently for hours – apparently the surprise attack from the Wraith evaporated Isabelle's sickness. They stopped momentarily to rest and drink some water, which was slowly diminishing, but never spoke to each other.

Isabelle always knew that when she was upset with someone, and if it was justified then she never spoke first, but if she knew she was wrong then she apologized, which she had already done – and she wasn't going to do it again.

Sheppard didn't seem like the type of person who would be able to apologize very easily. He was willing to apologize, but it was very hard for him to voice it. Isabelle knew it but she didn't care – if he wasn't willing to talk then she wasn't going to either.

The sun began to set and the breeze became stronger and cooler. Isabelle's hair started blowing in her face, even though it was tied back. As the sky became dark, the wind became even colder and soon it began to thunder. The first one was unexpected and it made Isabelle jump, which made Sheppard laugh a little to himself; she heard him but she still didn't say anything.

As quick as it began to thunder, it also began to rain – it wasn't a soft drizzle which gradually became a downpour, but it poured right from the beginning. Isabelle instinctively ran underneath a large tree to protect herself from becoming drenched.

She looked down and saw that there were beads of water sliding down her neck, underneath her shirt and onto her chest. It actually felt good after the long walk in the sun but she preferred not to get pneumonia. She turned to see that Sheppard had also taken refuge underneath a tree next to hers. Isabelle wanted to ask him if they could rest for the night and continue their trek in the morning, but she was too stubborn to say anything. So without asking him, she sat down against the tree trunk, took her supply bag as a pillow and lied down.

He didn't say anything either, just watched her lie down and possibly go to sleep. He just quietly lied down as well underneath his tree…but he didn't have a pillow.

Isabelle couldn't sleep though, the constant worry of someone coming after them kept her awake. Sheppard looked up at the night sky, whatever he could see through the dense tree branches. The rain droplets fell all around them, creating a mystifying veil and putting them to rest.

Isabelle didn't know when sleep came to her, but it eventually had. She woke up disoriented, forgetting where she was. She lazily sat up to see the pathway still wet from the heavy rain; the clouds had not subsided. The sun couldn't be seen and the fog that filled the forest blocked their view farther than three feet. Isabelle looked next to her and saw Sheppard sleeping, which surprised her because she thought that maybe he'd stay awake for the night to make sure no one captured them or killed them. But she couldn't blame him; they were both exhausted and deserved a night's rest.

She stood up, fixed her hair a little, as it was now frizzy from the excess moisture in the air and reached into her bag for some water but soon enough saw that Sheppard had kept it out to fill up with the rain water. Isabelle smiled at his consideration and thought she should wake him up. It was seven in the morning according to her watch and they should be heading back now. She walked over slowly, taking his peaceful expression into observation and admired how different it was from the anger he had shown the previous day.

She bent down and shook him lightly by the arm, but he didn't wake up. She tried again and again, but he didn't wake up – she began to worry. Isabelle bent down to place her ear next to his nose, he was definitely breathing but was unconscious. Isabelle's heart rate began to rapidly increase – she brushed her hands over his upper body, trying to feel for any wound which wasn't visible. She couldn't see any blood anywhere, so what could have caused this? Isabelle sorely wished that Jennifer was with her; she would know what to do properly.

But something caught her eye, his left sleeve was damp and since it was a black shirt she hadn't noticed it before. Isabelle moved to feel his arm; her eyes widened to see her blood stained hand.

Author's Note: Tried to bring in some action with this chapter, along with Isabelle/John "relationship" development. (Definitely get a deeper understanding of that in the next chapter actually.)

But how was this chapter? I hope it wasn't hard to follow….