Seven Years Old - 2013

"When the world is on your case and you don't have a place to run, if the storm keeps getting stronger and you cannot see the sun, I will rescue you. I will rescue you. I will shelter you from the rain. I will dry your tears, cast away your fears, and bring you to brighter days. Whenever you're lost and confused, like a fairy tale come true, I will rescue you." - PlusOne, "I Will Rescue You"

John was awoken by the sound of someone shouting his name. "Saturday, no school," he mumbled, rolling over. When his name was called again, he recognized the voice, and snapped awake. "Evie!" He quickly sat up, and saw Evie struggling with one of the guards who was currently trying to drag her down the corridor.

"Let go of me!" she cried, attempting to kick the man in the shins, but her captor merely grabbed her around the waist and slung her over his shoulder, preventing her from doing anything more than pounding on his back with her fists.

John rushed to the front of his cell as Evie was dragged down the pathway. "Where are you taking her?" he growled.

"The Master wants to have the woman once more before he takes care of you," the thug answered with a sadistic grin.

Evie gasped. Not again. "John!" She managed to catch his outstretched hand as she was carried past his cell.

John opened his mouth to say something, but no words would come. His fist tightened around the metal bar as Evie's hand was pulled out of his. Once he got out of this cell -- and he would get out -- that bastard was as a good as dead.

Evie continued to fight(as well as she could) the rest of the way from the small prison across the large clearing to Kenno's quarters. By the time they reached the building, her clothes as well as her captor's were damp, as it was starting to rain. Evie was brought into the same small room as yesterday, and deposited on the same bed. The thug secured her hands and then stood guard by the door.

"Good morning, Ugdor," Kenno greeted all-too-cheerily as he walked into the room a few minutes later. "You may leave us now." With a nod, the man left, shutting and locking the door behind him. Kenno slowly approached the bed. "And how are you this fine morning, katchka?" he murmured, using a word from his native tongue that loosely translated to "pet." When Evie made no reply and refused to look at him, he reached his hand out to touch the side of her face.

Evie snapped angrily at her attacker, clamping her teeth down on his hand. Kenno cried out in pain and yanked his hand away, viciously backhanding her. "John," she whimpered and her tears started to fall as he began unceremoniously removing her torn garments.

"John, John!" Kenno mimicked evilly with a laugh. "He can't hear you, bitch," he sneered, leaning down to suck on the side of her neck. Evie gritted her teeth and smacked her head against his. Kenno stumbled back, dazed, and cursed at her. Recovering quickly, his fist connected violently with her jaw. She groaned in pain, and then screamed when he sunk his teeth into her shoulder.

"John!" she sobbed, but the rain now pounding on the roof and the thunder booming outside prevented her cries from being heard by anyone other than her sadistic captor. Satisfied that he had tormented his prey into submission for a second time, Kenno stepped back and began undoing his belt.

Suddenly two shots rang out. There was a thud from outside the room and the loud noise of wood splintering. Kenno and Evie looked up in time to see John standing in the threshold of the kicked-in door. He was soaked from head to foot, no shoes, no flak vest, a nine millimeter in hand, and a lust for blood evident in his steely gaze. Seeing that Evie was far enough from Kenno, John wasted no time pulling the trigger, emptying the rest of the magazine into the man's body. His enemy's death would have been much slower had it not been for his wife's distress. Pulling a Swiss army knife from his pocket, he was immediately at her side, sawing at her bonds.

"John…John," Evie whimpered.

"I'm here, Evie," he said softly. The last of the rope snapped and as Evie shook it off, John gently took her face in his hands. "You okay?" he asked somewhat hesitantly.

"No!" she cried, her entire body trembling.

"Oh, Evie," he breathed sorrowfully. "C'mere, sweetheart," he said, pulling her close to him and drawing her head to his chest.

Evie jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist and holding onto him as if for dear life. As sobs racked her shaking body, she whispered his name over and over…

"It's okay, sweetheart," he said, gently stroking her head, a touch that always had a calming effect on her.

Evie looked up at him, lower lip trembling. "But he…" she tried. "He--"

"I know, Evie, but it's over now. I'm here," he murmured, gently kissing her forehead. When she didn't seem to mind the affectionate gesture, he began placing light, feathery kisses all over her face. Desperate to replace bad memories with good ones, she grabbed his face and kissed him deeply, her tongue anxiously seeking his. John met her need with gentleness, and Evie made a noise that was between a sob and a relieved whimper.

Releasing his lips a minute later, Evie rested her head on his shoulder, still drawing shaky breaths. "You going to be alright, Evie?" he murmured, his hand returning to stroke her head. Evie just shrugged. When she shivered a moment later, John gently set her down. "Let's get you dressed." Noting that the only garment of hers that wasn't completely shredded was her pants, John quickly slipped out of his wet jacket and handed it to her. "It's wet, but it's better than nothing," he conceded, stooping to pick up her gray reg slacks as well. When Evie noticed his eyes skimming over her body, assessing the damage, she looked down, embarrassed, then turned away from him. "Evie…" he started.

"How'd you get out?" she asked quietly.

John sighed sadly; he prayed Kenno hadn't broken her spirit. "Lorne," he said simply…

John had finally given up on struggling against the chains. There was no way he was getting out of them, short of chewing off his hands. Suddenly, over the rain and the thunder, he heard the sound of gunfire, yelling. "Colonel Sheppard!" he recognized a familiar voice shouting. Before John had a chance to reply, the door at the end of the building shattered into a thousand splinters. Lorne and McKenzie rushed inside. After making sure that there were no more guards inside the prison complex, Lorne ran over to Sheppard's cell, pulling more C4 out of his vest. "You alright, sir?" he asked as he prepared the charge.

"I'm fine, Colonel," John answered, then immediately asked, "Where's Captain Brooks?"

"We thought she was with you," Lorne answered, backing up. "Cover!" he called, ducking as he detonated the C4. Sheppard's cell door blasted open, and Lorne called to McKenzie to search the guard's body for keys when he saw John's chains.

"How'd you guys find us?" John asked as McKenzie found and tossed the keys to Lorne.

"I saw the Gate address before I was shot, sir," McKenzie answered while Lorne rushed inside Sheppard's cell, using the key to remove John's chains.

"Well, what the hell took you so long?" John growled.

"I was shot twice, sir," McKenzie replied. "Took me longer to wake up."

"Do you know where Brooks is?" Lorne asked, handing John a nine mil.

"Yes," John answered, heading quickly for the door. Suddenly, he stopped. "Give me your knife," he ordered.

Lorne quickly complied. "Sir!" he called, when John began running toward the building where Evie was being held. "You need backup!" he said, catching up.

"No," John said firmly. "You stay here, make sure the area is secure."

"But, sir--"

"That's an order, Lorne!" he cried, running into the building…

Once she was dressed, Evie and John returned to where the others, Lorne's and Davis's teams, were waiting. "Let's get out of here, Colonel," John ordered.

"Yes, sir," Lorne agreed, then turned to his men. "Let's move out!"

"Unscheduled off-world activation!" Chuck called. "Colonel Lorne's IDC, ma'am."

"Lower the shield," Elizabeth called, rushing into the Control Room.

A few seconds after the shield was down, the two drenched teams, along with a barefoot and bedraggled John and Evie, walked through the Gate. Elizabeth immediately grew worried when she saw the bloodstains on the latter two's clothing. "John, what happened?" she asked, quickly descending the stairs. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he answered, then looked over at his wife. "It's not my blood."

"Captain, you're injured?" Elizabeth asked.

"No, ma'am," Evie answered quietly. "I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Evie nodded. "Alright then," Elizabeth said, "why don't you all take hot showers and get into dry clothes? We'll debrief in an hour."

"Ma'am," Evie began timidly, her voice quivering. "Permission to be absent from the debriefing?"

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. "For what reason?"

Evie bit her lip and looked over at John pleadingly. John nodded and quickly walked over to Elizabeth, whispering in her ear.

Elizabeth's eyes widened in horror. "Oh, Lord," she breathed. Looking over at Evie with sympathetic eyes, she nodded. "Report to the infirmary," she said gently. "Once Carson releases you, you're free to go."

"Thank you, ma'am," Evie said, quickly slipping away to the infirmary.

After hearing Evie's tearful, mumbled account of what had happened, Carson sent the poor girl to the showers, saying that he would look her over after she had gotten cleaned up. Evie had thanked him, also asking that the incident be kept "in house." Carson had kindly agreed.

Once in the shower, Evie let the hot water wash away all the dirt and blood on her body. The steam and temperature of the water felt good on her sore muscles. She scrubbed furiously at the marks Kenno had left on her, as if trying wash them away, and her tears mingled with the shower water flowing down the drain. She stopped both downpours a moment later.

Pulling aside the curtain, Evie stepped out of the shower in a daze. Quickly grabbing the provided towel, she wrapped it around her body, not wanting to see her bruises anymore. She stood in front of the mirror and slowly, very slowly, raised her eyes to look at herself. Evie winced. Even with the towel covering most of the reminders, she could still see the reddish mark near the base of her neck, the dark bruise on the side of her jaw, the deep bite mark on her shoulder. Tears slowly filled her eyes. Even though the man was dead, he still tormented her.

Bitterness and anger welling up inside of her, Evie took out her frustration on the mirror, smashing it with her fist as she started sobbing. The pain in her throbbing hand momentarily took her mind off of Kenno. No longer rational, Evie grabbed one of the larger glass shards, staring at its sharp edge for a moment before slashing it across her chest. She cried out in pain as blood began to trickle down into the towel; she hadn't meant to cut so deep, hadn't really meant to cut at all.

Hurling the bloodied piece of glass into the sink, she cried out for Carson as she fell to her knees, sobbing.

Only a few moments later, there was a knock on the door and Evie heard Carson's voice calling, "Evie, are you alright?" She merely let out a strangled sob in response. Carson opened the door and looked at her with compassionate eyes. "It's a'right, Evie," he soothed, kneeling on the floor beside her. "You're safe now." Noting the broken mirror and the cut on her chest, it didn't take him long to put two and two together. "Oh, good Lord, lass, what have you done to yourself?"

"I…I d-didn't mean to!" she choked out.

"There, there, love," he said gently, reaching out to pat her arm, but thinking better of it. "We'll get you all fixed up, don't you worry," he promised.

XXXXXX

An hour later, after a very awkward examination, Evie sat on the edge of the examination table, dressed in the pajamas that John had brought to the infirmary by her request; as soon as she was released, she was going straight to her quarters and not coming out for days.

A few feet away, Elizabeth and Carson conferenced in hushed tones. "Well, aside from several bruises and marks and the obvious emotional trauma, she's going to be alright," Carson informed Weir.

Elizabeth nodded. "Should she be taken off of active duty, do you think?" she asked.

"Oh, definitely," Carson said, nodding. "She needs time to sort through her emotions right now. And while I don't think our captain would, some rape victims 'snap' some time after the incident. I wouldn't want her armed with a P-90 in her condition."

Elizabeth nodded slowly. "So, what, two weeks? Three weeks?"

"I think Dr. Heightmeyer is the one to answer that question," Carson answered. "It would be a good idea if Evie would talk to her, but I already suggested it and she said she just wanted to be left alone right now."

Elizabeth looked over and gave Evie a sympathetic smile. Then she nodded to the Scotsman. "Thank you, Carson."

"No problem," he said, returning to his patients.

"Captain," Elizabeth said gently, walking over to where Evie sat, swinging her feet. "I think it would be best if you were taken off of active duty for a few weeks." She held her breath as she waited for Evie's response.

A quiet, "Thank you, ma'am," was all she got.

"You are free to spend your time as you like, but just know…" She smiled kindly. "If you ever want to talk…I'm here. We're all here for you, Evie."

"Thank you, ma'am," Evie repeated, jumping down off the table and nearly running to the solace of her quarters.

XXXXXX

For the first week after the incident, Evie barely came out of her quarters. Sometimes she emerged for meals; sometimes she didn't. John had come by to see Evie several times after the defeat of the Tenanian uprise two days later, but when he realized that his presence was only making her feel worse, he left her alone.

Deciding that he was hungry, Aiden ventured into his mother's quarters. "Mommy, can you get me--" He paused when he saw her curled up on her bed and heard her quiet sobs. "Mommy?" he asked worriedly, running over to her side. "Mommy, why are you crying?" He put a hand on her head and gently stroked her hair.

Her son's show of compassion only made her want to cry more, but she wiped her eyes and tried to pull it together for his sake.

"What's wrong, Mommy?" Aiden asked, the concern evident on his little face. "Are you okay?"

Evie sniffled and reached her hand up to clasp his. "A mean man…hurt Mommy," she managed with some difficulty.

She saw his hazel eyes darken in anger. "I'll go get 'im, Mommy!" he declared, his determined expression reminiscent of his father. "And I'll lock him in the Wraith-prison forever and ever!"

Evie couldn't help but smile as she swiped at her eyes again. "It's okay, Aiden. Da-- Uncle John--" Crap, she had to stop slipping! "--took care of him," she informed him shakily. "He's not going to hurt anybody anymore." After pausing again to keep her composure, she asked, "Now, was there something you needed, baby?"

Aiden shook his head, still worried about his mother. "No, Mommy," he said and then climbed onto the bed to give her a hug.

XXXXXX

Ten days after the horrible event, Evie finally worked up the nerve to talk to someone about it. Kate Heightmeyer looked up from her paperwork when she head a knock on the door. "Come in," she called. She watched the door whoosh open and Evie wander in, eyes on her feet.

"I'm glad you chose to come, Evie," Kate said gently as she stood up. "Carson said he hoped you would. Please, make yourself comfortable," she said, gesturing to the chair.

Spotting one of Dakota's dress-up necklaces on Kate's desk, Evie grabbed it before sitting down. Kate watched curiously as Evie threaded her fingers through it, playing cat's cradle. "Okay," Kate said, sitting in the chair opposite her patient. "I'm going to ask you several questions. Some of them are going to be hard. You don't have to answer anything you don't want to. And if you just want to talk about something, feel free to interrupt anytime. You ready?"

Evie nodded and continued staring at and fiddling with the beads.

"Okay, don't shoot me for this first one, but…how are you feeling?"

Evie rolled her eyes and began swinging the necklace around her finger. "I was raped, Kate. How would you be feeling?" she answered sarcastically.

"Okay…" Kate thought for a moment and opened her mouth to ask another question, but Evie interrupted.

"I'm just glad that--" She paused. "Well, you have no idea how scared I was until I got my period two days ago."

Kate nodded understandingly. "Do you blame yourself at all for what happened?"

Back to cat's cradle. "Nope. Just the bastard that did it."

"That's good," Kate said, a little relieved; her last rape case had blamed herself for months. "Knowing that it wasn't your fault is important."

"Yep."

"Are you upset that you weren't the one to kill him?"

Evie finally raised her head and made eye contact. "You know… I thought I would be…but I'm just glad he's dead."

Kate nodded and made some notes on her clipboard. "These next few are going to be a little more personal, but remember that you don't have to answer." Evie nodded slowly. She generally liked talking about things with someone; Kate seemed like as a good a person as any. "Were you in a healthy sexual relationship before this happened?" When Evie seemed to hesitate, Kate gently reminded, "This is all confidential, of course."

Evie paused for a minute, then answered, "Yes."

"For at least the last few months?"

"Yes."

More notes. "And is this person still with you?"

"That man is, yes," Evie answered, not liking the implications of the generic term "person."

"Have you had any physical contact with him since this happened?"

Evie sighed heavily. "He tried to touch my arm…but I told him it made me uncomfortable."

Kate nodded understandingly. "But you do want to return to having a sexual relationship with him someday?"

"Duh." Spinning the beads again.

Kate hesitated for a moment, then plowed on ahead with the hardest one. "Was there a favorite touch…or action that you enjoyed from your lover…that Kenno did as well? Something that you now fear you will always associate with your attacker?" Evie shuddered. Kate had tried to ask as gently as possible, but the question was just harsh no matter how it was asked.

Evie had always loved the sensation of John sinking his teeth into the back of her neck. But after what Kenno had done… Rather than answering the question directly, she merely pulled aside the collar of her shirt.

Kate gasped when she saw the slowly-healing teeth marks on Evie's shoulder. She decided to back off a little. "Have you had any nightmares, Evie?"

Evie lowered her gaze back to the beads, which were now wrapped around her hand…

Evie woke up screaming for the fourth time that week--and it was only Tuesday. As tears slowly trickled down her cheeks, she turned on the lamp on her bedside table; the nightlight wasn't helping. She glanced nervously around the room. When she had awoken from a nightmare two days ago and shot at a shadow with her nine millimeter, it had been taken away from her; as a result, she now felt very unprotected.

She slid out of bed and quickly wrapped her robe around herself. Biting her lip and trying to concentrate on something happy, she swiped at her eyes. She knew what she needed right now, and her feet had soon taken her to her husband's quarters.

She stood there for what seemed like hours, trying to will herself to knock on the door. She just wanted him to hold her, to rest in his strong arms and have him make it all go away. And yet, having him touch her was also the very thing she didn't want. Her wounds, her shame, were still too fresh, too overwhelming. Defeated, she dropped her head and began slowly walking away.

(However, had she knocked, she might have been able to rescue him from his own nightmare: a horribly twisted reality where he was powerless to do anything but listen to her screams as Kenno defiled her again and again.)

Evie found herself knocking on Summer's door instead. After a moment, her barely-awake friend opened the door. "Hey…" Evie said, looking down. She searched for words for a few seconds. "I…I was just wondering if--" Summer nodded, reaching out for Evie's hand and giving it a gentle squeeze, then pulling her inside. Evie curled up on the couch, pulling the extra blanket over herself. For some reason, she didn't have night terrors as bad when there were others around. She still had bad dreams, though…

Twisting the beads between her fingers, Evie said quietly, "Each nightmare plays out differently. …what if I had tried this? …what if I had fought harder? …could things have turned out differently?" A tear slid down her cheek and she made no attempt to stop it.

"I thought you said you didn't blame yourself?" Kate said gently.

Evie frowned. "Guess I thought I didn't…"

Kate sighed quietly. She knew it couldn't have been that easy.