Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
1275 York Ave, New York, NY

Present Day…

He held her hand as he looked into her eyes that could no longer see clearly. He really didn't think she knew exactly who he was due to the number of machines that were connected to her and the amount of drugs that were being pumped into her body just to keep her comfortable. It had been a hard road to get where they were now, and he'd never give up one second of what they did to get here, even now. Her body had been ravaged by disease from something neither of them had expected. It was becoming his everyday wish that whoever was in charge upstairs would end her suffering quickly instead of making her live through another day of this pain….

September 11th, 2001, 6:33 am.
Kate Beckett's Tribeca Apartment

NYPD Rookie Patrolman Kate Beckett dropped her utility belt and shed her outer patrol jacket, leaving everything to pile up on the living room floor just inside the door of her small Tribeca apartment. She then proceeded to walk to her bedroom to get some much needed sleep before she had to be back on shift in less than seven hours. She collapsed on her bed without bothering to strip out of her Kevlar vest and uniform. She didn't even brush her teeth before sleep took her.

Her night had been very eventful, to say the least. She had already worked her eight-hour shift when her sergeant had decided to place her with the warrant squad that worked Times Square, giving her the option to work the much needed overtime. This was unusual at best, but she never said no to overtime. Kate was assigned to the Sixth Precinct. When the request came in, due to a shortage in manpower over at the Manhattan North precinct, her sergeant decided that as she was lowest on the totem pole at the Sixth, she was the first one to go.

September 10th 2001,
8:15 pm
238 W 42nd St Unit 2C

"Patrolman Beckett, what you need to do is stay back and watch what a warrant squad does in order to serve a warrant. No heroics are needed. If you see something out of the ordinary, use your two-way and call it in to one of us. Try not to engage anyone," Lieutenant Tomlin said.

"Copy, sir," Kate replied.

She watched as her colleagues stacked up against the suspect's door, complete with a battering ram and bulletproof shields protecting them when they entered. Within seconds it was over. The suspect was dragged out of the apartment in handcuffs and Kate relaxed - that is until she heard a loud noise coming from the east fire escape. She was alone because the other cops had their hands full taking charge of the suspect and searching the apartment. It was no coincidence a second person had evaded the initial cops who entered the apartment.

She tried to key the mike mounted on her shoulder to tell the other cops that there was a second suspect was trying to make his escape. No one responded. She drew her weapon and moved towards the window that led to the fire escape.

When she got to the window, she climbed through the open window that the perp had gone through and looked down. He had one hell of a head start.

"NYPD! Stop!" she yelled towards the retreating form climbing down the last ladder of the fire escape. She proceeded to climb down after him and when she reached the last landing, all she heard was,

"Take one more step down that ladder and I'll blow your head off, cop! I can do it right from where I stand."

She stopped abruptly right where she was. God, what a screw up she was. She let a suspect get the drop on her and now there would be hell to pay.

"Make one more move, scumbag, and I will drop you right where you stand!"

Kate was shocked at first, but when she turned to see what was happening below her, the lieutenant had already disarmed and cuffed the second suspect.

"Patrolman Beckett, come down off the fire escape. The suspect is in custody and the scene is secure."

Kate finished her trek down and was met by her superior.

"Kate, what were you thinking? This guy was a bonus, but it wasn't worth you becoming another statistic."

"I know. But he was escaping. I didn't want to lose him."

"Did you try to call me on your two-way?"

"I did, but all I heard was static, and no one answered."

"Well, that figures. Here in Times Square, as well as most of lower Manhattan, the repeaters are very unreliable. Sometimes we can call you while we are looking directly at you and never hear anything over the air."

"I can only imagine what would happen if there was a real emergency situation we needed to respond to and we could not communicate with each other," Kate said.

"Hey, this happens. But I did hear that Motorola and lots of other cell carriers want to enhance the repeaters to get first responders in the loop quicker in case of an emergency."

He went on, "Kate, this will be just between us. I won't say a thing to put you in a jam with the Sixth."

"Thanks, Dave. I appreciate it."

September 11th, 2001, 7:45 am.
525 Broome Street

He welcomed the sun on his face that shone brightly through the slats of the vertical blinds in his bedroom. He wished that he had closed the blinds before he'd gone to bed last night. But it's just as well he didn't. He felt almost lackadaisical, but he had to get his day started because today was his pumpkin's first full day of kindergarten.

Deciding that breakfast was the best thing he could provide her to make it through the day without becoming run down by the end of the day, he rose thinking about what she could want to eat. As he made his way out into the living room, he saw his daughter already dressed in… something. He never knew she had such an outfit to wear in the first place. It looked like a cross between a grunge rocker and Little Red Riding Hood.

"Daddy! Look! I'm already dressed for school! Do you like it?"

Rick looked at what she selected to wear for her first day and was not impressed with her choices. He did not want to hurt her feelings with his honest opinion so he went with,

"Listen, pumpkin, why don't we try the blue outfit with the white sweater? It's a little chilly for a September morning."

"Really? But it was supposed to be sunny today."

"Later on it is, but this morning it was going to be a little on the chilly side. Daddies know about these things."

"Okay, Daddy. I'll go and change. Are you making me breakfast?"

"I will." Crisis averted. He hoped that she would take his advice on what she needed to wear to school in the future. "I'm going make your favorite smiley face pancakes," Rick said as she toddled up the stairs to her room to change.

Breakfast was their time. And all too soon it was over. She looked at him and he could see everything flash in front of his eyes: herself being walked to school, inviting a new friend over to play, smashing tomatoes on the floor for a science project…

"Daddy, come on or we're going to be late for school!" his daughter cried out and drew him from his daydreaming.

Rick gave her the once-over concerning her outfit and was pleased. He grabbed her backpack and took her hand to walk the four blocks down towards Mercer Street. They had just enough time to pick her up a snack at the deli on the way. After that was done they finished their walk to Citi Babes, her new school. Checking his watch, he saw that they were well ahead of schedule and should make it to the school without a problem. As they walked the last two blocks to her school Rick heard a sound that should not have been coming from that part of the city. It was too low and too loud to be so close to the lower end of Manhattan.

He looked up and saw a Boeing 767 on a direct collision course with the World Trade Center. But as he craned his neck to see the path of the plane, it was taken out of his view by the surrounding buildings. All he could do is hear what happened next. The plane he watched streak overhead ended up plunging itself into the northern facade of the North Tower.

He looked at his watch once more and noticed that it was 8:46 a.m. Grabbing Alexis' hand, he pulled them back towards Canal Street to see if he gets a better view of what was happening downtown. By the time they got to Canal and Mercer Streets, everything was unfolding before his eyes.

The North Tower of the World Trade Center was literally burning.

September 11th, 2001 8:52 am
Kate Beckett's Tribeca Apartment

Five more minutes. That's all she needed to sleep. But her phone had different ideas. At first, she just ignored it, but two minutes later it went off again. Then it hit her. She'd never set her alarm for this morning, forgetting she had to be back at work later, so she actually had a call. She opened up her eyes, watching as the phone vibrated on her nightstand. She picked it up and saw the Sixth precinct logo on her caller ID. She fumbled to answer the call, and when she did she heard total and utter chaos.

"Officer Beckett, you need to report to the Sixth precinct ASAP. The second you hang up, bring your full riot gear and meet in the conference room no later than 9:15."

"Yes, sir. I'll be there by 9:15 - I'm leaving now."

Kate hung up and pulled the phone off its charger, slipping it into her holder. She was still dressed from yesterday, so no shower for her today. She couldn't imagine what was so urgent that she had to be at the precinct in less than 14 minutes, but she grabbed her shirt, her bulletproof vest, and outer jacket, and headed for the front door.

When she hit the street, there were a lot of people looking straight up and pointing skyward. Since she couldn't see anything downtown, she just moved in the direction of the precinct.

The explosion was deafening. She heard the whining of the jet engines above her and then the finality of the crash. By the time she made it to Canal and Broadway, she could hear people screaming at what they were seeing. She turned and looked south to see not one but both World Trade towers engulfed in flames.

The flames rose from the 93rd to the 99th floor of the North Tower and in the seventies of the South Tower. The paper and dust she saw floating down gave the illusion of snow. Later she would find out that this was the one thing she should have avoided…

The events in this story are true. Everything that Kate Beckett experienced at ground zero was experienced by the author on that day and the three months that followed. Firsthand knowledge can sometimes have a heavy price to pay for it I should know.

Updates will be weekly at best. If I can I will post an errant chapter in here and there. There will be two independent endings.

This story is being betaed by her royal Pegship. I would like to thank her from the bottom of my heart. If you get the chance please read her wonderful work.

P2P