9/11 tribute story

Tribute story… hope you enjoy. Read the A/N at the end please.

It is September 11 2001. Mac and Stella are downtown at a crime scene when the first plane hit the building. The world trade center to be exact. As soon as Mac saw he ran towards the direction of the south tower in order to try to save his Claire. Mac was only a few blocks away with Stella when he tried to call and got nothing.

That was 10 years ago. Today it's once again September the 11th. Mac and Stella were coincidently going to the same crime scene they went to 10 years before. Looking on and driving to the crime scene, they took the exact same route they did then. By the time there was about 4 blocks to the crime scene they were able to see where the world trade center used to stand. They carried on driving like nothings has changed and wished when today was over they would go home and pretend that today didn't hurt them at all.

Claire! Claire! Claire! Mac kept calling but nothing. No response. He felt hopeless and tired. During this whole time Stella was right there by his side and comforting him as much as she could then. Of course everyone thought this was a cruel trick and everything would be back to normal, life would go on like nothing has happened, but nothing was going to be the same after today.

Mac unknowing started to walk towards the site of the world trade center and Stella was right behind him. He walked the few blocks that brought him to the same spot he stood 10 years before and watching the world crumble before his eyes, the day when everything became a nightmare for him and the only person that was welling to bring him back was standing right by him. He stood there just looking at the empty space that was once filled in with the building that his wife worked in, the same one she died in.

When Mac found out calling Claire's name was no use he started to matters in his own hands, he went in to the south tower and started to climb the stairs when he felt this huge explosion from within, the south tower has been hit. He was getting even more scared by the minute, and each flight of stairs he went up the more scared he was of finding out the condition of her floor was. Truth to be told Mac hadn't gone 4 floors when search and rescue ordered him to head back down and wait, Stella was also with Mac and during the whole ascend she was trying to tell him to go back down, but none of that registered in his mind until someone else told him.

Stella stood next to Mac and looked towards the world trade center, where it once was. Stella suddenly said. It's now 10 years Mac. 10 years ago today we stood here watching the whole thing unfold and praying for the best. I remember everything, you running into the building, we being ordered to head out and just waiting at this spot. Mac said the worst was watching the towers collapse, seeing hundreds of people jump and seeing the black smoke covering us. I had nightmares for weeks after. Stella then said, for me was watching you moving forward in life, for weeks I had to nurture you, seeing you drown yourself in sorrow. Seeing you crumble was the worst for me.

Stella was standing outside the building and looking up, seeing hundreds of people jumping and falling to their deaths. They encounter death every day, but it's really different to see people taking their own life, watching them falling slowly to the ground and making a huge thud sound when they finally land, the end of a life, but the beginning of grief for some. Standing there, seeing all that horror first hand Stella started to get a little emotional, she thought how crappy life can be. So many lives are in the balance between life and death, including a friend.

Mac and Stella stood there in silence for another minute praying, and then they started to walk back to the crime scene, forgetting all the pain for now. Walking back Mac was having flashbacks to the moment when the south tower fell; he was standing right across the road and watching it crumble to the ground, burrowing hundreds in its wake. Stella saw the tormented look on Mac face and she knew what he was thinking, the collapse of the south tower, the first one to fail, and the one that Claire was in.

Arriving at the crime scene, they tried to have a as normal day as today can be, well nothing can be normal today, or any of the anniversaries. When they got back from the crime scene and to the lab, Mac was looking out of his office window toward the towers again, wishing it was still there. He whispered something very quietly but had a significant meaning and the only person who heard was Stella, who was at the time watching from his office door.

Stella knocked on the door and came in. she asked him for the team gathering at Sullivan's, a tribute they had since the attack. A tradition that never was to be broken on any condition, a team always sticks together.

At Sullivan's, Stella told everyone to pick up their glasses, she made a speech that went something like this:

A lot of lives were lost; a lot of innocent lives were lost. 10 years ago today, it was supposed to be a normal day of work, which turned into this nightmare for everyone. After this we can prove as Americans that we are brave, strong and never back down from a fight, that we are not afraid. 10 years on and the same thing applies. Moving forward in life, knowing the lives lost would want us to, live life, a life that they never lived fully. We all know they fought hard to live, to see another day, to see their families. The towers, even not there will always be the image for New York. The lost lives will always be remembered. Cheers!

Ending the speech, they clinked their glasses together and toasted another year, another year that went by, and another year since the world watched in horror. Ending this great year with a little hope that maybe next year we will all start to heal a little bit more. They all celebrated this year and Mac can finally start to move forward, he knew life had go to on, and the only person he wanted his life to move on with was his Stella. She was the only person by his side during this whole time, helping him heal and live. Something he would never forget.

END

A/N: my own little speech: may the souls rest in peace and may the forgotten be remembered. I never lost anybody but this little story is a tribute to 9/11 and I hope it meant something to some people. To bring comfort, hope no one is offended. Life goes on, but it never means we have to forget the lives lost.