to old readers: I've edited a bit of this first chapter thanks to a note from Katgirl129 -very helpful by the way, thank you

sorry about the long list of states- the following sections will have the names by the part but formatting on this section left no room for that

In order of appearance:

Gabe- Arkansas

Bailey- Wyoming

Carter- Wisconsin

Kira- Alaska

Alexa- California

Lauren- Colorado

Ella- Arizona

Maya- Hawaii (Hawai'i)

D.C.- America

Dylan- Idaho

Morgan- Georgia

Brandon- Illinois

Ashley- Michigan

Destiny- Texas

Aidan- New Jersey

Tom- New York

Victoria- Rhode Island

Sam- Connecticut

Jackson- Indiana

Diego- New Mexico

Paige- Pennsylvania

David- Utah

Anna- Montana

Elizabeth- West Virginia

Samantha- Louisiana

Jasmine- Alabama

Hunter- Mississippi

William- Nevada

Isabelle- Minnesota

Kylie- Missouri

Chloe- Virginia

Robert- Delaware

Gabe is the first one in the conference room and he smirks and saunters over to the best seat by the window, the one overlooking the hills of the park outside their building. Instead of an empty seat, he finds a paper taped to the back of the seat that reads, "Psych!"

I hear people saying, "We don't need this war."

He tears the paper off and glares around the room, looking for the culprit. Bailey's head pokes out from behind a column. The fiend is already snickering as he sashays over. "Morning, Arkansas. Thank you for finding my seat for me~"

Gabe signs angrily, "Wyoming..."

His brother grins, "Yes~?"

"I hate you."

Bailey only laughs as Gabe is forced to turn away to find another seat. As they either sit geographically or alphabetically when all fifty plus one of them meet, he is either being sentenced to the other side of the room, or four seats down.

Well, I say there's some things, worth fighting for.

Carter slides into the seat next to Bailey. Gabe ignores Carter's greeting and wanders over to his seat, four down from where he wanted to be. He ignores Bailey when he explains why Gabe is acting pissy today. He just pulls out his notes and stretches out his hands. He'll have to sign anything for Kira again if she misses it and his family is infamous for getting off track. Hopefully Kira won't want to know the stupid fight that'll happen today and he could sit back and relax for once.

What about our freedom?

Alexa sits next to him, talking rapidly to Lauren at her side. Kira and Ella are no where to be seen and Gabriel sighs a little, even though the room is quickly filling up.

Alexa reaches over and pokes his side and he turns to glare at her. "What?"

She bats her eyes at him and he resists the urge to roll his own. "Could you and Arizona switch seats today? I want to talk to her."

And this piece of ground?

Gabe groans, a pathetic whistle of air through his partially paralyzed vocal chords. "I just sat down," he signs pathetically.

She looks so damn hopeful. "I never get to see her~"

"You're neighbors."

"Please?"

He rolls his eyes and huffs before moving to gather his stuff and shift over into Ella's seat. Alexa claps excitedly and Gabe glowers at her, but he can't say anything with his hands occupied.

We didn't get to keep 'em, by backing down.

Kira shows up with D.C. and Maya, as Gabe should have expected. D.C. always has the two of them fly in early and stay with him the day before a meeting. The two of them look more asleep than the rest of the states, which might have been because they were still on Pacific time. Maya, after sitting in her seat, yawns widely. Dylan next to her offers to get her a cup of coffee. Maya passes and leans over to rest her head on Morgan's shoulder. Morgan rolls her eyes with fond exasperation and shifts so that Maya would be a little more comfortable.

Kira sits in her seat, holding a cup of coffee and sluggishly takes her stuff out of her bag, not looking to D.C. as he starts the meeting, but Gabe won't need to sign it for her after; it's the same speech each time.

They say we don't realize the mess we're getting in.

Brandon stands up to talk about the car industry, and Kira is still not looking, so Gabe bites the bullet and takes notes for Kira (even though she should know by now to always pay attention when they're in a meeting).

Brandon pulls up some charts and figures and Kira is still not looking; she's just poking at her ears as though doing that would make them start to listen.

When Ashley stands up to add onto something Brandon was saying, Kira finally looks up and starts paying attention, a small light of disappointment in her eyes. Gabe catches himself just looking at her for a while and once he sees her tears, he blinks and looks away.

'Fore you start your preaching,

let me ask you this, my friend,

After the two of them sit down and Destiny and Ella stand up to discuss illegal immigration from Mexico, something that does not affect either of them, Gabe places a hand on Kira's shoulder and feels the girl flinch.

"What's up?" he signs when she looks up to him.

Kira's skin is just slightly lighter than his, but her blush is worse than his could ever be. "My governor and I are trying to see if hearing aids can help me."

"Can they?"

Kira only shook her head, tears building up in her eyes. "The damage," her hands were shaking as she signed, "was too great. Nothing could help."

Have you forgotten?

For a moment afterward, the states were silent. It might have been a coincidence, looking back, but Gabe remembers feeling something in the air; something was about to happen.

It was fifteen minutes to nine.

Aidan was the first to speak. His voice was concerned and fearful when he asks, loud enough for all of them to hear, "Tom?"

Thomas Jones, New York State, is sitting in his seat, holding his right wrist as though it were being sawed off. His eyes look at nothing in particular. His face is contorted in horror and he takes in a deep breath before he screams.

How it felt that day?

Victoria is on her feet and running for Tom, muttering as she gets closer, "God no, please God not again." Maya jerks in shock at the scream and stands abruptly across the table from Tom. Morgan is trying to get her to sit back down, trying to cover Maya's ears and eyes because no matter what is going on with Tom, they do not need Maya to be taken back to December 7. Maya's already crying and lets herself be pulled into Morgan's embrace.

Cries of confusion echo through the room as Aidan, Victoria, Alfred, and now Sam get Tom out of his seat and onto the ground. Aidan is white, completely pale and looking as though he is going to throw up.

Phones start to ring around the room and a handful of the states pick up. Ashley is the first to get the news and she claps a hand over her mouth and stares at Tom. Brandon is the next and he says, just loud enough for Jackson beside him to hear, "It's the tower. Someone crashed into the tower."

To see your homeland under fire

and her people blown away?

Kira is asking for him to translate what is happening and he is almost finished when Tom screams again.

This time it's a guttural vocalization of agony and Tom manages to clip out, "Dear God, why?"

And then Tom is howling like there is no tomorrow and there may as well not be from where he's concerned. Aidan is stumbling away, a hand clapped over his mouth and an arm across his abdomen. Diego grabs him and pulls him in close and away from Tom.

Brandon is still on the phone and this time he shouts over the panicked noise the states are making, "The second tower has been hit. It wasn't an accident. Oh my God."

Have you forgotten?

Everyone is quiet; some are praying, others are sitting down defeated in their chairs. Brandon and Ashley are fidgeting with their phones. Morgan rocks Maya back and forth, keeping Maya's head away from the prone figure of Tom. She might be singing, but Gabe is on the other side of the room from them.

He takes the time to translate fully to Kira what is happening and after he's done, he can feel the anxiousness and unease of waiting for the other shoe to drop fill the spaces between the fifty plus one of them. He doesn't want it to drop; Tom is still crying and Gabe can only imagine the death toll skyrocketing in Tom's head as he lays there. There can't be anything more horrifying in store for them than what has already happened.

He was wrong.

About our Pentagon?

Bailey is the one to see it first. Bailey, who took Gabe's seat this morning. Bailey, who was so smug about it, is the one to look out the window, maybe just on pure reflex, and he sees the plane. Bailey is the one to watch it careen towards the Pentagon. Bailey sees the smoke.

But Chloe is the only one who can feel it.

All of the air leaves Bailey's lungs as he stares transfixed out the window at the billowing clouds of smoke. At the same time, Chloe screams and grabs at her head, only managing to whack her braces against the table. Jack next to her, who had flinched badly when she had screamed, now fumbles with the clasps on her braces, trying to get her hands free. Zachary next to xem starts to fumble with the other brace.

Gabe sees Alfred stand up and only glance down once at Tom before pushing through the other states to get to Chloe. Her hands are free and she grabs at her head, fingers digging into her hair and pulling and screaming. Alfred grabs her and pulls her in tight, making her hands wrap around him instead of her head. She fists his shirt in her hands and her screams turns into sobs.

Gabe notices some of the original states looking at each other- which wouldn't be such a big deal, but it's the way they're looking at each other that makes this so terrifying.

"The two strongest states," Robert whispers from his seat. Lauren looks to him and makes a confused noise. "They were our strongest."

Oh fuck.

All the loved ones that we lost,

Paige pushes herself up onto the table and shouts at the panicking states until they all stop moving. They don't listen to her, so frantic are they. It takes Destiny, climbing up next to Paige, and screaming for everyone to please look over here right now and to shut the hell up, for everyone to notice.

Destiny is white when everyone finally calms down enough. She's swaying where she stands and she is breathing oddly. She blinks rapidly for a few seconds before Paige presses a hand to her shoulders and whispers something in her ear. Destiny goes to jump off of the table; her hands are shaking.

"I'm scared," Paige says. "I know we're all scared. But we need to keep calm, okay?" Her eyes linger on the smoke outside. She blinks and Pennsylvania stares down at them.

There is a difference, and Gabe will argue this until the end of time, between Paige and Pennsylvania, Bailey and Wyoming, or Tom and New York. When they use their human names, they are directly connected to their people and they let their emotions rule them. When they are just Arkansas or Alaska, they are distanced, able to think of the better of the state and nation and not pleasing their people.

Pennsylvania now stares down at them and Gabe feels more like Arkansas in that time than any other that he can remember. "We need to clear out any public space, especially the coasts and any other major cities."

And those left to carry on?

"Call governors; get everyone out of any government building."

He can't talk. What is he supposed to do?

"Close all of the borders."

He isn't able to call anyone. What is he supposed to do?

"Stop all flights in our airspace. Anyone near NYC or D.C. send ambulances and fire trucks."

He shouldn't cry, but tears were already pooling up in his eyes. Alexa touches his shoulder and turns him to face her. She looks scared, but when he wipes away the little moisture on his cheeks and shakes his head, she sighs with relief.

"What's wrong?" she asks softly.

Have you forgotten? When those towers fell?

"I can't talk," Gabe signs forcefully. "So I can't-"

All eyes snap towards Tom as he screams again. This time it sends a swooping feeling through Gabe's stomach as Tom yells out, "Oh God! MY GOD MAKE IT STOP!"

Tom cries louder and Morgan holds Maya closer. Maya has climbed into her lap and her hands are covering her ears as Morgan's hands run up and down her back.

"Someone turn on the damn news!" Ashley screams, her voice almost too high to understand. She is glaring from her seat, hugging her sides and rocking back and forth. She seems to be waiting for something. She's blinking hard and winces every few seconds.

David does and all of the states not concerned with either Tom or Chloe focus in on the harried newscaster. Alexa watches for a second before pulling her phone and nudging Gabe's shoulder. "What's their phone number?"

Yeah, some went down like heroes

in that Pennsylvania field.

Alexa is on the phone with his mayor, double checking what they had done, when Paige's knees give out and she kneels to the ground with control. She is on her knees, curled up over her knees, arms wrapped around her stomach.

"A hijacked plane just crashed into a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania-"

The room is silent, except for Tom. Morgan is the first to speak up.

"If tomorrow all the things were gone I'd worked for all my life," she sang softly, her voice tinged with tears and fear.

Anna, leaning up against Dylan, starts crying softly. Dylan has an arm around her shoulder and he's swaying gently to a rhythm only he knows. Elizabeth climbs onto the table and wraps her arms around Paige, almost pulling the older girl onto her lap.

Morgan blinks rapidly and swallows hard, almost as if the next verse is stuck in her throat. Kira has sat down and stares straight ahead.

"And I had to start again," Samantha and Jasmine whisper from their seats. Hunter is between the two of them, his head in his hands.

"With just my children and my wife," David says.

Gabe sits next to Kira and touches her shoulder. She looks up to him, her eyes still blank. "I'd thank my lucky stars," he signs.

She doesn't smile, but her hands move, just as William sings, "To be livin' here today."

Songs are a good distraction, Gabe thinks to himself as the rest of the room slowly joins in to murmur together their song. He and Alaska sign out the song as best as they are able to.

We had neighbors still inside,

going through a livin' Hell.

They finish "God Bless the USA" and "My Country 'tis of Thee." They are halfway through "America the Beautiful" when Isabelle screams.

"-those responsible. Let's go back to Cindy in the Newsroom who's joining us now for another update, Cindy-?"

"Ah, wait a second; is that a live picture? This is a live picture. We are seeing the second World Trade Tower Center, World Trade Center Tower number one has just collapsed, ladies and gentlemen-"

Isabelle is staring at the screen in abject horror as smoke rises to replace the old landmarks on New York City's skyline. All of the states join her in staring; except for Victoria, Alfred, Elizabeth, and Sam, who are still leaning over Paige, Chloe, and Tom.

You took all the footage off my TV.

Gabe cannot see it, but Tom is gripping Sam's collar, crying softly, no longer screaming in agony. Sam is on their knees at Tom's side, babbling about fire trucks and rescue workers. Tom keeps whispering to him, "This how you felt, Sam? Durin' the war?"

Sam chokes on a sob and shakes their head. "No. This is not how I felt at all."

Victoria sits behind Sam, a hand on their shoulder as she scans around the states, almost as if she would be able to notice before something happened to one of them and protect them.

Paige is curled up around her stomach. One fist is pressed to it, as though she were about to give herself the heimlich. Her other hand is held loosely by Elizabeth.

Alfred has Chloe in his lap and is sitting in her abandoned chair. Her head is pressed to his collar bone, right above his heartbeat. Her hands are curled into her chest like a T-rex. One of her fingers twitches -counting out heartbeats or counting the dead.

Said it's too disturbin' for you 'n' me.

The following moments pass by in a haze of mute terror and numbness; though, Gabe thinks to himself, he's always mute so the only new thing is the terror and numbness. Kylie squeezes in between him and a tired Kira, but doesn't say anything. They let Kira's head fall onto their shoulder, but doesn't try to sign anything to Gabe.

He doesn't want to talk which is good because he can't.

It'll just breed anger;

that's what the experts say.

An upended chair is all the warning they get before Aidan storms to the ajar door. He takes it in his hand and throws it shut. The sound makes some look up, but most don't react.

Evidently the sound isn't enough for Aidan, as he wrenches the door open again and again, slamming it harder and harder each time. Diego and Taylor stand up and start to go towards him.

The hinges break off. The door falls. The room is silent.

Aidan leans against the doorframe, facing away from the rest of them. His very posture screams defeat. Taylor watches him for a second, but then she and Diego shake their heads and go to sit down.

Gabriel needs out of this room. He ignores everyone.

If it was up to me I'd show it everyday

Some say this country's just out looking for a fight

He's smoking outside when a security guard approaches him.

"Sir? Sir?"

He looks to her, letting out a long drag of smoke, but nice enough to keep it some what aimed away from her. He quirks his eyebrows and waits for her to continue.

"This building is under lock-down, I have to ask you to leave the premises unless you have validation."

He just stares at her; partially because he knows she can't understand ASL even if she tried, and the other because he still doesn't want to talk and can't a fella have a smoke in peace when his country is being ravaged by terrorists?

Oh to Hell with it. Now she's asking if he understands English.

He gives her the finger. So what if they'll detain him. He can't stay with them any longer.

Well, after 9/11 man I'd have to say that's right

-lil' bit of explanation; when the Constitution was adopted, New York and Virginia were one of the last few states to sign it. They were key in getting the Constitution adopted because NY blocked all access to New England (the majority of which had already signed the constitution) if it did not become a state and Virginia had a lot of power of trade and size (as did NY).