Not-so-famous last thoughts

Situated in Manhattan, near the heart of the huge New York City, were the Twin Towers. Tyler stood casually at one of the full-length windows in his dad's office; the sky scraper was an impressive building, towering majestically over the rest of New York. It was the world trade centre, the epitome of business offices. You knew you had succeeded when you were working in either of these buildings. Tyler guessed that the physical height was meant to be a metaphor for climbing the corporate ladder or some ridiculous crap like that... and his dad was practically sitting on the top.

The New York sky line was spread before him and the horizon was so far away it seemed as though Tyler could see to the end of the earth. The early morning sun was shining softly on his face, the lazy rays hitting only half the scene below him. From his high vantage point, Tyler could barely make out the people bustling around in the intricate maze of streets down below. The formidable height sent Tyler's head spinning when he looked down, so instead, he gazed across the distance, his eyes skimming the playground of roofs of buildings several miles below. He fleetingly wondered if Michael had a similar view from where he sat.

Tyler lifted one hand to his mutinous hair and leaned his elbow in the window frame, supporting his head. Janine threw one last glance at his handsome figure and walked back out the door. She had a satisfied smile on her face, she had always wanted her boss and his son to be on better terms. She knew her boss loved his kids... even though he didn't really show it.

Tyler supposed most other people would be proud to have a dad working in this building... but those other dads were probably there for their kids, but he was glad that his dad seemed to be coming around. Tyler didn't want to be callous or cruel, but Caroline's hair being cut off was probably what spurred their dad into action... and also what brought Ally back into his life.

Tyler smiled softly to himself as thoughts of Ally entered his mind and warmed his heart. He was filled with hope when he thought of her. He wasn't stupid, he knew he'd messed up royally when he used her to get at her dad... but he loved her. He hadn't said it much, but he knew he loved her more than anything. It was in the way he couldn't stop touching her, it was in the way he was in awe of everything she said, it was in the way he smiled just at the thought of her...

It was also in the way he fell into a depression when she left. He frowned, you brought it all on yourself Tyler, no use complaining now. He knew he would still have to beg for forgiveness when he was done with his dad and the lawyers, that bloody school deserved it anyway. He couldn't wait to get out of here and celebrate Ally coming back properly, he was sure her French toast was amazing... well, compared to his pathetic attempt anyway.

He then thought of Ally. He thought of the way the sun seemed to shine out of her golden curls. He thought of the way her full, cherry red lips parted as she spoke – and how they felt against his own – so delicate yet fiercely scorching his own lips – amidst a passionate kiss. He thought about her eyes – these were his second favourite – not quite sapphires, they were lighter, brighter... full of life, matching her personality and her unique quirks which he wouldn't trade for the world. Tyler looked out to the perfect blue sky in front of him and decided that Ally's eyes were sky-blue, much more appropriate anyway, Ally reaches for the sky on an hourly basis.

Today was the perfect day, Tyler decided, how could it not be when things were already going so well? And when he felt so optimistic? He wondered if him and Ally would always celebrate the eleventh of September as the day they got back together. He could just imagine in a few years time, looking back on today and smiling with fondness at the memories, he couldn't wait. Maybe they could even laugh about the breakup some day too.

Tyler frowned as he felt the whole building shudder under his feet. What the hell was happening on the lower floors? He turned away from the narrow window and ambled back over to his dad's desk. He picked up the small book that held his heart and soul, smiling gently at his more recent entries, the optimistic tone and the hope for the future, more specifically, a future with Ally. He trailed his fingers over the worn and folded pages, caressing the object tenderly. He replaced the book back on the table, before once again, contemplating the slideshow, betraying his fathers affection for him and his siblings... Then he heard it.

Screams.

The frown that had eased off his face in light of his serene thoughts returned, screams? Tortured, terrified cries, creeping up from the depths of the building. Tyler ran out of his dad's office to find Janine, what were all the screams about? But she wasn't at her desk, instead she was in a crowd gathered around the window on the other side of the building... where thick black smoke was billowing towards the sky from somewhere below, eclipsing the sun and throwing the room into darkened shadow.

Tyler pushed his way through the crowd, simultaneously trying to reach Janine and trying to see what was going on. As Tyler reached the window and looked down, he saw the fierce tongues licking greedily at the base of the column of smoke currently obliterating any view of the surrounding city... a plane had crashed into the side of the building a few floors below.

He turned to Janine, but words completely failed him. How could they escape? The blaze was below them, how could they evacuate? Suddenly Tyler's earlier fantasies came back to haunt him, cruelly mocking him for daring to think he could have a happy future with both his dad and Ally after today. Tyler realised he wouldn't be able to see Ally's face ever again, his last words to her were "It doesn't matter," he had told her he loved her just before , but it didn't seem like enough. Nothing seemed like it could ever be enough as far as ally was concerned. He was an idiot for caving and going along with Aidan's ridiculous idea and wasting all that precious time having Ally mad at him! Then again, if it wasn't for Aidan, he probably wouldn't have spoken to Ally at all.

Had he said 'thank you' for that? He could see it all clearly now, every regret, everything he put off, thinking he would have plenty of time later. It all seemed like a heartless, vicious joke now. When was he going to get the time now?

Everyone was rushing around Tyler as he sat down, unable to stand in the face of the realisation that his life was over – would be over very shortly. People were rabidly rushing around in the crowded space doing god knows what. The panic was evident everywhere, it was in the set of their faces, in every line of their bodies, each movement was hastened and jerky as they rushed to gain closure in their last seconds on earth.

"Apparently it was terrorists," Janine said as she sat sown next to him, but Tyler could see through the shaky veneer of calm she had on.

"Terrorists?" Tyler asked, slightly confused as his mind was pulled back abruptly from his brooding.

"Two terrorists hijacked two planes and flew them straight into each tower. Suicide terrorists from al-Qaeda," Janine replied detachedly, she was sticking to the facts to keep her emotions in check, to keep her from thinking about the aftermath, about the family she would never see again.

Tyler needed a cigarette. He patted his pockets but came up empty, then he remembered leaving them at home to please Ally after his promise that he had his last one yesterday. Well wasn't that just fucking ironic? Tyler sighed as he gave up his search and dropped his head back into his hands.

...

Ally was in her boyfriend's kitchen, making him and his room-mate French toast. It was nice to think of him as her boyfriend again. She had felt so hurt when he had admitted to using her, she had felt so cheap. But when Aidan came to her door to ask for forgiveness on Tyler's behalf, she realised that maybe it had started out that way... but then they fell in love. She realised that people made mistakes and that just because Tyler's mistake was worse, it didn't mean her dad was innocent.

She giggled when Aidan came into the kitchen, literally being led by his nose, after his painfully hilarious attempt at flirting over the phone. She smacked his hand out the way as he reached for a piece of the toast she had just made. He started whining but she playfully reminded him that good manners dictated that he should wait until all the food was prepared and they could sit down and eat together.

"But Tyler wont be back for ages," Aidan complained.

"Tough shit," Ally replied smirking, nothing could ruin her good mood today.

Then the phone started ringing again and Aidan went to pick it up, thinking it was his latest female interest, calling back for more, "Hello?" he asked in the smoothest voice he could muster.

After a brief pause in which the caller spoke Aidan spoke, alerting Ally to who it was on the other end, "Oh, Tyler," Aidan said disappointedly while Ally rolled her eyes, then decided to concentrate on not burning the breakfast.

"Shit!" the curse alarmed Ally and she spun round to see Aidan staring at her with alarmed, petrified eyes.

…

The flames were starting to eat away at the floor now, it had collapsed in some areas and now the fire was climbing up the walls on the far side of the office. Everyone had congregated on the other side of the floor now, trying to delay the inevitable. Tyler had accepted his fate, there was nothing he could do about the fact that he was going to die, so, determined not to let the terrorists win, he spent his last moments imagining what life could be like, trying to regain his hopeful mood from earlier. By now, the south tower had been hit as well.

Tyler was still terrified sitting in the office block that was now crumbling around them, but he would be damned if his last moments alive were completely taken over by fear. He decided the best way would be to block the reality out for just a little longer.

Tyler held his notebook in his hands as he contemplated what life could've been, if only he'd chosen not to wait in his dad's office. It looked like he was going to be able to voice all his messages to Michael in person a hell of a lot sooner than he thought. He shoved it back in his pocket, keeping it close to him. The last days of peoples lives were impossibly intimate things, people start getting sentimental. He wasn't sure he could handle that, even at the end.

Tyler started to feel the heat on the side of his body, so faintly at first, he wasn't sure if he was imagining it. Burning to death, surely one of the most painful ways to go. He had been burnt before as a child, the memory had faded considerably, but he still remembered it had hurt like a mother fucker. He was suddenly angry at the flames and the terrorists, how dare they kill thousands of people just to prove a fucking point? If he burned to death, Tyler knew the terrorists would win.

…

When sergeant Neil Craig got the call, he didn't know the brutal, agonizing extent of what he was going to encounter. He rushed past millions of tear stained faces, mouths giving out terrified shrieks of alarm and distress... because the world trade centre was reduced to a colossal mass of blackened rubble. Debris had shattered the sidewalk while the public milled around, terror-stricken by the thought of getting any closer yet seemingly unable to back away, pinned down by their morbid curiosity.

The sergeant could still make out the lick of flames within the maze of rubble, blazing through the efforts of the firemen to control the inferno that was rapidly becoming a large communal, funeral pyre. A layer of soot and ash dusted the entire area, making everything a dark, mottled grey. The ash was still falling, the flakes drifting lazily onto the frenzied and scrambling crowd below. Some of the ash landed in his hair, mimicking snow... only it wasn't. The sergeant brushed off the layer of soot that was accumulating on his head and shoulders, thinking how he would never view snow in the same way again.

The stench of burning hovered in a repugnant haze over the once-proud, once-famous sight. The disaster area spoke only of loss and tragedy, how many survivors could they hope to find and save? What state would they be in? The fall of the twin towers would weigh heavily on the hearts of the people for generations to come. The ramifications of this cataclysm would be far reaching, swift and lethal in the search for revenge and retribution.

…

"Aidan it's me, asshole," Tyler grumbled into the phone, his irritation not easing when Aidan responded disappointedly.

"Listen, the world trade centre was hit by a plane, terrorist attack."

"Shit!" Aidan exclaimed down the phone, then he heard running and his beloved Ally shouting for Aidan to explain what the fuck was going on.

"Aidan, you're my best friend, tell Caroline and mum that I love them," he made his last request of his room-mate.

"Sure bro, no problem," Tyler could hear the crack in Aidan's voice as he replied, it was comforting to know he would be missed.

After a brief pause he asked, "Can I speak to Ally?" he heard confirmation of his request before the sound of the phone being passed over.

"Tyler?" Ally sobbed into the phone, her voice alone gave him the strength he needed, he took one step forward.

"I love you Ally, I'm sorry for the way I messed up, but you're the best thing that ever happened to me," he had to let her know what she meant to him, "I love you so much, and I'm sorry I wont be around for the rest of your life," he choked back the sob that was forming in his throat, to late for the tears falling from his eyes. He was overcome with grief, not only were they going to lose him, he was going to lose them as well.

"Will you marry me?" he tentatively asked, one last attempt to show her how he felt.

Ally broke down on the other end, after a few seconds she replied in a whisper, "Yes, of course I will Tyler."

Tyler took a deep breath, "Goodbye," he whispered as he ended the call on his phone.

Janine's panicked voice and the dying screams of thousands around him were the last things Tyler heard. But as he closed his eyes, the last thing he saw was Ally's face. He took a deep breath and lost in his vision of Ally, and with the heat of the flames on his back, he let himself fall forwards into oblivion.

A/N – please review, and tell me if you came close to crying, I know I almost did.