So I wrote this one on September 11th. I'm not really sure why. I think I should put trigger warnings in just in case. This chapter mentions 9/11, the attacks on the world trade center and pentagon, and the events of that day. I don't really remember 9/11, I was in 2nd grade, I think. I have a vague memory of everyone being sent home, we had to call our parents to come get us. I think. This kind of just happened. I don't mean to disrespect or offend anyone who was personally affected by the events of 9/11. I debated posting this for a while.
I hope you enjoy it. Please review.
Pentagon
September 11, 2001
Like most people Eliot new exactly where he was on September 11, 2001. He was in the pentagon, turning down a job.
Eliot walked into the pentagon at 8:15 in the morning, there only out of respect for his friend.
He knew why Vance had asked him to come and he knew what his answer would be. He also knew that Vance knew what his answer was. Which made him curious as to why his friend thought asking in person would change anything.
After passing through the heavy security and acquiring a visitor's badge, he was met by a tall man in a dark suit.
"How the hell did they get you in a suit?" He asked, grinning at his friend.
Vance chuckled, "Necessary evil, it won't last long though."
They filled their walk to the office with idle small talk, the true meaning of the meeting not something to be discussed in public.
Vance paused at with his hand on the door, debated telling Eliot what – or rather who- was on the other side, and decided against it. He let his friend enter the room first, smirking when the shorter man stopped short upon seeing the room was not unoccupied.
"Tessa?" He whispered, finally moving to the hug the woman leaning against the desk.
"Hey there, cowboy." She replied, returning the hug.
Tessa was a young woman, at least a year younger than Eliot, with light brown hair that stayed in barely manageable ringlets and dark green eyes. She was a few inches shorter than Eliot but her combat boots helped make up the difference.
Eliot shook his head at Vance, "You play dirty man."
"We need your help. You really gonna make Tessa handle this in her own?"
"Yeah Eliot, are you really gonna make me handle this on my own?" she repeated with a smirk.
Eliot sighed.
"What's the job? I ain't agreein' to nothin'. But what's the job?"
Vance grinned, knowing his friend was in.
He began describing the situation. He told Eliot and Tessa about the two American journalist and their friend being held prisoner in Burma. They were charged as being spies and would be going to trial in 3 days.
"The reporters aren't spies but the Burmese government wants to set an example. Unless we do something."
"Why us?" Tessa asked reasonably.
"She's got a point. There are already teams made for this." Eliot added, having been a part of said teams before.
"We don't have time. By the time we get through the red tape it'll be too late. And the teams made for this aren't good enough. We need a small, fast, specialized team to go in and rescue these people. There is no one better than the three of us to get this done quickly, efficiently, and without causing an international incident."
It was hard not to be impressed with Vance, Eliot realized not for the first time.
"So, how are we gonna do it?" Tessa questioned, having decided she was going to help before Vance had finished his explanation.
He grinned at her and looked at Eliot, raising his eyebrows in a silent question.
"Burmese prisons are built to keep people in, they ain't that hard to break into. I'm assuming you know where they are being held." He answered them both all the while thinking he has to get better at saying no.
It was 9:05 am when an assistant told them that another plane has crashed into the World Trade Center south tower.
They scrambled to get the news on, to find out what they had missed in the last half hour of planning and scheming.
They had missed the world changing forever.
They sat in horror as footage scrolled across the TV showing horrifying images. Flames and smoke reaching for the sky. People jumping from windows.
When Bush came on tv, calling the attack an "apparent act of terrorism" they all grew more somber, wishing that they were wrong, that they had read the signs wrong. Planes crash all the time.
Denial only gets you so far.
Then the third plane hit.
This plane did not hit the World Trade Center.
Eliot looked around, shocked and horrified at the scene before him.
He could see the plane and the path it tore through the building. Could smell the fire eating through the plane. Could hear the people screaming for help. Could feel the heat building up as the building began to burn. Could taste the fear in those around him.
He got up from where he'd fallen and began looking for his friends, finding Vance quickly enough. It was Tessa he couldn't find, who wouldn't answer his desperate shouts.
Vance found her on the ground, rubble having knocked her out. Or worse. They cleared the broken pieces of the building away from her and Eliot picked her up. They joined the group gathering at the other end of the room and began their journey out of the destruction.
They fought to get through blocked doors and fire and furniture that had once been in offices on higher floors. When the flames hit a pocket of gas, the whole group felt it. They moved as quickly as they could, wary of any survivors from the hijacked plane.
"She woke up when we got outside and was one of the first to run back in to help. Damn woman couldn't help herself. If someone needed help, she was gonna to help."
Maggie watched Eliot stare at the memorial in front of him and knew he wasn't standing beside her, wasn't seeing the memorial anymore.
"She died saving a group of people who had been trapped in room, the door was blocked by furniture from the office above. She went back in to get the last few people and got caught in a small explosion. Fire hit a gas pocket."
Maggie wrapped him in a hug, knowing nothing would erase the loss.
"I'm so sorry Eliot."
"Me too darlin, me too."
Please review