This is a short story that I wrote after listening to "Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)" by Alan Jackson, and I started thinking, what if Garcia was in the World Trade Center when the attack began? What if JJ and Emily were with her? This is what I thought of after that.
*Written in tribute for those who died on September 11, 2001 and those who lost loved ones that day*
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Morgan walked into the BAU early that morning with a cup of coffee in his hands. "I talked to Garcia this morning and she said their trip to New York City is a blast," He told Reid as he sat down in his chair.
Reid nodded and said, "Yeah, JJ said the same thing."
The three BAU girls had left a week before for a vacation to New York City. They had gone pretty much everywhere, and today they were headed to the top of the World Trade Center.
It was a little before 9am when JJ, Emily and Garcia walked through the front doors of the first World Trade Center building. The elevator was getting ready to go up, but there was room for two more people. Garcia said,
"JJ, Emily, you guys get in, I'll either wait for the next one or use the stairs,"
They hesitated, but stepped in the elevator and told Garcia they would wait for her. She headed towards the stairs once the elevator doors slid shut. She was actually grateful for the full elevator, because she never really liked elevators. Normally she avoided the ones at the BAU, and both Emily and JJ knew that.
She lost count of the number of stairs she had climbed when she felt the building shake, like it had been hit by a bomb or something. The other people in the stairwell with her grabbed onto the railing just like Garcia did and they all started wondering aloud what had just happened. Nothing else happened so they all kept climbing the stairs.
It wasn't for a few more minutes that people started hurrying down the stairs from all the floors. "What's going on?" Garcia asked a passing woman, and she said,
"Something hit the top of the tower!"
Garcia's eyes went wide when she remembered Emily and JJ in the elevator. "Oh my God!" She exclaimed, and began climbing the stairs with a vengeance as she tried to figure out how high the elevator could've gotten from the time it took off to the time something hit the top of the tower.
She finally stepped onto the 20th floor and saw they had the TV on and turned to the news. She watched in horror as a plane soared right into the second Twin Tower. "Holy shit!" A man next to her yelled as he was standing by the window. She hurried next to him and she could see where the plane had hit the other tower.
"Use the stairs and get out of here!" Someone instructed, and Garcia found herself being forced into the stairwell and back down the stairs. She managed to get out of the crowd and she went from floor to floor, banging on the elevator doors and trying to find JJ and Emily.
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Meanwhile, Morgan was taking a sip of coffee when he flipped the news channel on and he saw the Twin Towers, and the first one was burning with black smoke billowing out of it. "Oh my God," He breathed, and Reid turned towards the TV, and he dropped his coffee mug.
"Rossi, look at this," Reid said suddenly, and Rossi came over to look at the TV.
"Hotch!" Morgan bellowed, and just as Hotch came down they all watched the second plane fly straight into the second tower.
"This is no accident," Hotch said immediately, pulling out his cell phone. He dialed Emily while Morgan dialed Garcia, and Reid dialed JJ. Rossi immediately made calls to make sure the BAU jet would be ready. He knew the airspace around New York would be closed down, but he planned on getting as close as he possibly could.
"She's not answering," Morgan said anxiously, and both Reid and Hotch reported that their calls went straight to voicemail, which meant their cell phones were off or they were out of service.
"What if they're caught in an elevator?" Reid worried, and Rossi snapped his phone shut.
"Let's go. If we leave in the next few minutes we can get in the air and we can get as close to New York City as possible."
"They haven't closed the airspace yet?" Hotch asked in confusion as they headed for the elevator.
"Just around NYC, they haven't cleared all the planes out of the air around the state yet," Rossi informed him as they hurried to the jet.
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Garcia had tried nearly all of the floors from the 20th down, and there was nothing. The firemen that were coming up the stairs told her to get down to the lobby where she would be evacuated, and she made her way to the last flight of stairs and that's when she tripped, tumbling down the rest of the way. There was a searing pain in her ankle as she tried to get up, and she soon discovered that she couldn't walk.
"Dammit," She swore as she basically had to crawl her way to the lobby.
Almost immediately a couple of firemen came over to her and pulled her to her feet, helping her towards the side door. They weren't letting anyone evacuate out the front door because of the debris falling from the towers. The firemen basically carried her towards the door and suddenly she heard a ding, and that meant the elevator doors were opening. She whipped her head around and saw JJ and Emily stumbling out of the elevator, coughing from the smoke.
"Emily! JJ!" Garcia screamed, and the firemen allowed her to stop and wait as the two BAU women ran over to them.
"Garcia!" JJ exclaimed in relief and she wrapped her arms around her best friend. Emily joined in the hug, saying,
"What the hell is going on?"
"There's been a terrorist attack on the Twin Towers. Both have been hit by planes," One of the firemen said, and JJ nodded as her face whitened.
"I was looking for you two and I tripped down the stairs," Garcia admitted, looking ruefully down at her right ankle.
"Thank you for helping her, both of you, but we can take her from her." Emily said, replacing one of the firemen on Garcia's left side. JJ took the right side as the other firemen said,
"All right, but get out of here as soon as you can,"
A terrifying and deafening noise sounded, and they all looked over through the smashed windows and saw the second tower completely collapse. "Oh my God…" JJ breathed, pressing her free hand to her mouth.
The three women stood there in complete shock and terror, wondering if the end of the world had come.
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Meanwhile, they had turned the TV on in the jet. "The Pentagon is on fire. Good God, what next?" Rossi said quietly, staring at the screen. The station had gone back to broadcasting the tower, and as they watched, the South tower completely collapsed, just sinking down to earth.
Morgan shot straight up in his chair, dialing Garcia again. "They were in the first Tower weren't they? Weren't they?" He demanded, and Reid said slowly,
"They were supposed to be,"
"Supposed to isn't good enough!" Morgan said angrily as he redialed Garcia.
The jet touched down as close as they could get to NYC and the car Rossi had arranged for was waiting for them. Hotch took the wheel and floored the accelerator, headed straight for NYC. Eventually they reached the city, and by that time the first tower had collapsed. The bridges into Manhattan had been closed to traffic, so all four of them got out and headed straight towards the rubble that used to be the World Trade Center.
It seemed to take forever, and as they got closer Hotch and Morgan broke into a job, followed by Rossi and Reid. That jog soon turned into a run and they were hurrying to the ruined Towers, with Hotch yelling for Emily, Morgan bellowing for Garcia and Reid shouting for JJ. Rossi was hollering for all three of them interchangeably.
Suddenly, out of all of the dust that was in the air, a group of 3 women emerged, with two of them holding up the third, who was obviously limping. All three of them were pale, coughing and looked like they had been through hell, but otherwise unhurt.
"Garcia!" Morgan yelled and he sprinted towards her, wrapping his arms around her and holding her up so JJ and Emily could let go of her.
"Emily!" Hotch shouted and she ran straight into his arms, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and whispering,
"Aaron,"
Reid hurried over to JJ and she fell into his arms. He hugged her tightly, saying quietly, "God, JJ, you scared me,"
"Sorry," She murmured and she looked over at Rossi.
"You okay?" He asked her, and she nodded.
"Me and Emily were stuck in an elevator but we got out. Garcia fell down the stairs and she either broke or sprained her ankle."
"You okay, baby girl?" Morgan asked, easing back slightly and framing her face with his hands.
"I busted my ankle up pretty good, but other than that I'm okay," She said in a shaky voice, and she glanced back at what was left of the towers. "I can't believe that just happened."
"Apparently another plane hit the Pentagon, and another went down in Pennsylvania." Morgan said, and Garcia raised her eyebrows, saying,
"Pennsylvania? What was the point of that?"
"There's speculation that it was headed for somewhere else, and it was either shot down or something went wrong and it crashed in the wrong spot." Hotch said, and he let go of Emily once he was sure she was okay. He kept his arm around her and she leaned her head on his shoulder, saying quietly,
"All of those people, Aaron, they all died,"
"I know, sweetheart, I know," He said sadly.
"Uh, we should probably get away from all of this dust and smoke," Reid said logically, and JJ stepped back from his arms, linking her left hand with his right and Rossi nodded.
"They're probably not going to let anyone take off in a plane for a few days after this, so we should probably get a hotel," He said, and the BAU team slowly started walking away from the site of the terrorist attack. Rossi went over and helped Garcia walk and they made their way across the Manhattan bridge.
Garcia's ankle was checked out later that day, and it was indeed broken. She had it put into a cast, but she, along with JJ and Emily, insisted on attending the candlelight vigil that night for the people that had died, both civilians and police officers/firemen and women and anyone else who had perished in the attacks.
Where were you when the world stopped turning
On that September day
Were you in the yard with your wife and children
Or working on some stage in LA
Did you stand there in shock at the sight of that black smoke
Rising against that blue sky
Did you shout out in anger
In fear for your neighbor
Or did you just sit down and cry?
Did you weep for the children
Who lost their dear loved ones
Pray for the ones who don't know
Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble
Or sob for the ones left alone
Did you burst out with pride for the red, white and blue
And the heroes who died just doing what they do
Did you look up to heaven for some kind of answer
And look at yourself and what really matters
I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell you
The difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God and I remember this from when I was young
FAITH HOPE and LOVE are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is LOVE
Where were you when the world stopped turning
On that September day
Teaching a class full of innocent children
Or driving down some cold interstate
Did you feel guilty 'cause you're a survivor
In a crowded room did you feel alone
Did you call up your mother and tell her you loved her
Did you dust off that Bible at home
Did you open your eyes, hope it never happened
Close your eyes and not go to sleep
Did you notice the sunset for the first time in ages
Or speak to some stranger on the street
Did you lay down at night, think of tomorrow
Go out and buy you a gun
Did you turn off that violent home movie you're watching
And turn on 'I Love Lucy' reruns
Did you go to a church and hold hands with some strangers
Stand in line and give your own blood
Did you just stay home and cling tight to your family
Thank God you had somebody to love
I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell you
The difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God and I remember this from when I was young
FAITH HOPE and LOVE are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is LOVE
I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell you
The difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God and I remember this from when I was young
FAITH HOPE and LOVE are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is LOVE
And the greatest is LOVE
And the greatest is LOVE
Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning
On That September Day…