A/N-A warning to you readers. If you find this too disturbing or you cannot continue, I urge you to not force yourself to read.

Roxas set the phone back down in the cradle. He stared off in the distance out the window and wondered what he should work on next. After several minutes of thought, he noticed his coworker sitting in the desk in front of him staring back.

"Rox, you're zoning," Xigbar warned. Roxas sighed and pulled at the tie on his neck.

"I really just want to go home," Roxas admitted. Xigbar scoffed.

"Don't we all, kid. Get your work done and then you can scoot." Roxas picked up a pen and tapped it against his desk as he stared at his blank computer desktop. They were joined by Marluxia, who was carrying around a heavy stack of paper. He slammed it down on Xigbar's desk and let out a sigh of relief.

"Well, look what I found for you two to do," Marluxia said cheerfully. Roxas groaned and flicked his pen away. Xigbar grabbed the first sheet and leered at the page with his good eye.

"Damn, these things will take all night!" the elder man protested, running a hand through his greying hair.

"Better get busy. They're expecting them by the end of the week," Marluxia reminded. Roxas leaned over the desk and grabbed the next sheet on top. He sat back in his chair and read over the information.

"Of all the days to dump more work on me," Roxas muttered under his breath. He went and fetched his pen and set to work. Marluxia gave a wave and headed off while Xigbar started folding his sheet into a paper airplane.

"You just don't seem to have any luck today," Xigbar noticed. Roxas glanced up at the man precariously folding his paper.

"You have no idea." Xigbar finished his master piece and gave it a toss. It swooped around the room and landed neatly on the floor by the window. The man grinned and started to make a second. "You could actually do the work, you know," Roxas chided. Xigbar chuckled and carefully made his folds.

"Oh, take a break, Roxas. You're too young to be working this hard. You'll drill yourself into the ground before you even get home to see that boyfriend of yours." Roxas felt a light blush dust his face. Xigbar chuckled. "Oh, you're already love sick for him. You could just sneak out." Roxas frowned and grabbed another sheet.

"And risk losing my job? Pfft! As if! We're barely making rent as it is with all of the student loans." Xigbar gave his second plane a toss and it lodged itself into a plastic tree. The man frowned and went to make a third.

"Ever try looking for a new job? Maybe one that's not so…political?"

"I'm trying!" Roxas protested, flicking a paper clip at his desk partner. "The only job offer I got was for a pizzeria and I'm not about to quit for minimum wage."

"But think of all that free pizza!" Xigbar folded his paper again, his tongue sticking out of the corner of his lips as he worked.

"Pizza doesn't pay the rent."

"But it buys the groceries." Roxas sighed.

"Look, I'll just keep my job here at the Trade Center and maybe in a few years when I finally get a raise we can finally breathe a little bit more."

"Mm, ramen!" Xigbar teased. He gave his plane a toss. There was the sound of a plane approaching overhead. The office didn't even look up as they were used to the sound of air traffic in the morning. Xigbar watched his plane bounced off the glass. He sighed and went to retrieve his documents. He snatched the plane out of the tree and went over to the window. Xigbar froze and his eye grew wide. "OH SHIT!" he screamed.

There was a terrible sound of crunching metal and shattering glass. Roxas leapt up from his chair and watched as a plane drove through the wall of the other building of the World Trade Center. Screams of panic arose from the office and many flocked to the window to see the damage. Smoke billowed out of the building and they were blinded from the damage.

It was a painful ten minutes before the smoke finally cleared enough for them to see. A giant hole had been ripped through the side of the tower. People stared with wide eyes in horror. Roxas felt his throat tighten. He went over to his desk and picked up the phone.

Axel heard the alarm blare and he leapt into action. He grabbed his gear and jumped onto the side of the truck as it pulled out of the garage. He turned on his radio and tried to listen in. His heart seized in his chest.

"…repeat, the World Trade Center has been hit! All units report immediately!"

"Fuck, Roxas you had better be in that second tower," Axel prayed. The truck whipped through the streets where people were pointing and pulling out video cameras. Axel gritted his teeth. 'Now's not the time for that!' He screamed in his head. In five minutes they were pulling up to the base of the towers. Axel felt a rush of relief as Roxas's tower was untouched.

"Axel! Get in there and help with the evacuation!" Chief Ansem barked.

"Aye sir!" Axel picked up his gear, his extremely heavy gear, and started trudging into the building. People were flooding outside of the doors and pouring out of the stairwells. Axel groaned at the sudden realization he would have to take the stairs to the top floors. He pushed past people and started clearing the lower floors. It was tedious work. Hundreds of people worked in the Trade Center, which meant the lower floors got to evacuate first while the others waited patiently for the halls to clear.

When he reached the fourteenth floor, his stomach leapt into his throat. People were coming down with third degree burns all over their bodies. Pieces of skin fell to the floor as they were helped down the stairs. Axel went over to a man carrying a woman and took her from his arms. She was bleeding severely and needed immediate medical attention. Axel rushed down the stairs with the crowd and carried her out to the awaiting ambulances.

"Axel! How goes the evacuation?!" Ansem barked.

"Slow, sir!" Axel responded. "We're trying to get the wounded out first. How to you propose we get up to those trapped on the upper floors?" Ansem scowled.

"We're getting there." They paused when they heard the sound of something flying low. Their eyes shot upwards and they could barely make out a grey shape on the horizon. "Oh my God, is that…?"

"No…no…please don't…" Axel begged. He felt tears springing to his eyes. The shape grew larger and defined itself into a plane. "Please, please turn around…" The plane roared across the sky and banked to the side. "NO!"

The plane smashed into the second tower and erupted into a ball of fire.

Roxas chewed on his bottom lip nervously. Their tower was evacuating as a precaution but it was taking way too long. There were far too many people and Roxas was too high up. It was closing in on an hour since the first tower was hit. Roxas desperately wished Axel wasn't down there working the fray but he knew better. Axel would be there to lend his aid as he was sworn to do.

Xigbar nudged Roxas gently. "Hey, we're going to be fine," he muttered. "We're all going to get out and you'll go see your boyfriend tonight. Look on the bright side, no work today." Roxas felt sick to his stomach.

"I can't stand just waiting around like this," Roxas whispered. Xigbar sighed and patted Roxas's head. The blonde flinched at the touch.

"Like I said, we'll be fine. Now calm down." Xigbar put an arm around the blonde's shoulders as Roxas tried not to cry. He was scared, frightened, petrified, terrified…the fear was consuming him.

"I just want to go home," Roxas murmured. Hot tears burned in the young man's eyes. Xigbar held him close to his side.

"Easy, Rox. I'll make sure you get home. You should try to be strong. Axel's probably worried sick about you." Roxas nodded with a thick throat. Xigbar leaned back against the desk and sighed. "Just a bit longer. Then it'll be our…" Xigbar stopped and listened, his eye alert. Roxas heard it too. People flocked to the windows and peered outside.

"There's another plane coming!" Marluxia exclaimed. People screamed and tried to shove themselves into the stairwell that was already full. Xigbar held tightly onto Roxas and pressed the kid into the floor. The roar became deafening. Then the ceiling exploded into flames. People screamed as their bodies caught on fire from the spraying fuel. Roxas pressed his hands over his ears to block out the noise. Then debris began falling down on top of them.

Roxas felt himself get pinned to the floor and it collapsed underneath him. He fell to the floor below and smashed into a desk, shattering it and colliding with the floor. Roxas coughed as dust and smoke swarmed his lungs.

"Xigbar!" he croaked. He found himself pinned. Roxas strained his neck to look over his shoulder. His eyes widened in horror. Blood oozed from under the metal beams and stained Roxas's shirt crimson. He tried to move but he couldn't. He tried to call out but failed. He could still hear the dying screams of people as they burned to death above him. Roxas felt hot tears pour down his face and the dripped onto the shattered wood beneath him.

He sobbed because he knew no one was coming for him.

"Axel…" he cried. "I'm so sorry…"

"LET ME GO!" Axel screamed.

"Axel! You need to focus!" Ansem barked as he held the red head back. "I know you're concerned…"

"CONCERNED?!" Axel whipped around. "My boyfriend could be DYING up there! I'm FAR more than CONCERNED! Just let me get in there, please!"

"You are assigned to the first tower. There are already people moving into the second one. Stick to your duty, Axel. Roxas is probably safe and already on his way down."

"You had better pray he is," Axel hissed, forcing himself to go back into the first tower. He couldn't stand the feeling of abandonment growing in his gut. It made him want to hurl. As he reached the door, he turned to see someone running out of the second tower consumed in flames. Someone rushed over with a fire extinguisher and began blasting the burning man. Axel leapt as he heard something crack to his left. A mangled body was splattered on the sidewalk. He quickly turned his gaze up and saw more and more people were jumping. "Roxas, don't you dare jump!" Axel growled. He pressed onward into the building.

It was slow getting equipment up the stairs. Axel was hot and sweaty and there were still plenty of people trapped on the upper floors. He stepped out to take a breather and check a floor to make sure it was clear. Axel scanned it and found it empty. He nodded and turned to go back to the stairs. Then he heard it. The sickening sound of rushing wind.

Axel whirled around and dust plastered the window as the second tower collapsed. "NO!" Axel screamed. He ran to the window and pounded his fist on the glass. "ROXAS!"

Roxas heard the sound of the building shift. He swallowed hard and pressed his face into his arms. He was swallowed in dust and then he felt sometime heavy crush him into the floor.

And then nothing.

Axel sank to the floor and wept. He didn't know what to do. There was nothing he could do. His life was gone. His love was gone. Forever. And he couldn't even see. Dust seeped into the ventilation system and Axel quickly put on his mask. It quickly fogged up from his heavy breathing. Axel shakily stood and forced himself to keep moving forward to the stairs. There were still people who needed his help.

Each step felt like a lead weight in his boots. Each step he felt his heart break a bit more. Axel pressed onward. They still had eight floors to go before they reached the gap in the stairs when Axel felt it. The floor shook beneath his feet. He looked up and saw a mob of white dust coming down on him. Then he felt an I-beam rip through his gut for a brief instance before he was smashed into the stairs. His body tumbled downward with the rest of the debris to wash over the streets below.

You have…3…new messages. The answer machine called out as the play button was pushed. The voice ran out in the tiny apartment crammed with various furniture and pictures. Eyes scanned the walls and felt their heart sink.

Message 1

"Hey Axel, it's me. You've probably left for work but I thought I'd give you a call anyway. Damn, just have missed you. *soft chuckle* I'm really looking forward to tonight. I can't wait to see you. Work is going to be an eternity today. Oh well, the life of a working man."

Dishes were piled up in the sink from breakfast and dinner the night before. Clothes were strewn in the closest as someone had made a rush to get to work on time.

BEEP

Message 2

"Hey there sexy! Thought I'd leave you a welcome home present. I got stuck working a double shift today, the shit heads. At least Demyx is here to keep me company. But make sure you wait up for me, okay? I don't want to come home and find you ate all the food again. *chuckle* I really want to see that smile of yours when I walk through the door. Can you handle that? I'm sure you can. I can't believe it's been three years already. Man does time fly. Anyway, I have a surprise for you when I get home so be a good boy and wear something sexy. Love ya babe!"

Eyes ghosted over the pictures. The pair together at the park, at the beach, having a tender moment together. Their lives seemed anything but perfect yet they were in bliss.

BEEP

Message 3

"Axel, oh my God, a plane just went through the tower. I-I know you're going to have to go there. I don't want you to, but you're brave and strong and I know you'll get everyone out safely. A-Ax, I get the feeling I might not make it home tonight. Or tomorrow. I know it's stupid but in case I don't make it out of this, I want you to know I love you…so much…*sniffle* And…I found your "surprise" hidden in the back drawer weeks ago…*sniff* If I can't make it home…I just want you to know…I would have answered yes…always yes…you mean the world to me…I pray I get to come home and say it to you. *sniff* Oh, God, Axel. I'm so sorry…I'm so, so sorry. I love you…please….please don't forget about me…*muffled crying*"

Sitting out next to a vase of flowers was a simple black box. Gentle fingers opened it and peered down at the silver band inside. Eye glanced at the red rose sitting in the vase, better yet a plastic cup. A beautifully scrawled note sat beneath the box. Tears spilled out of the eyes as the read the loving words. The answering machine message silence ended as the call was cut off short.

BEEP

End of Messages

A/N-12 years ago we suffered the loss of hundreds of lives. Men, women, lovers, fighters, dreamers...they are gone. But not forgotten. Never forgotten. I wrote this in memory of those who died, were lost, or torn apart by this day. I do not ask for your reviews. Just a moment of silence in your hearts.