They weren't prepared for what they found when New Jersey led them in. The room smelt of burnt flesh and smoke, but there was none to be found. Then they saw New York and felt ready to throw up. Virginia let out a shocked gasp at the sight of him. He was on the floor, hyperventilating and laying in a pool of his own blood. There were burns all over him and he was spasming and convulsing as new cuts and bruises were appearing all over his body.

Massachusetts couldn't say anything else. "What happened!? What's happening to him!?"

"How should I know!?" New Jersey screamed, finally letting the tears flow. "One moment he's talking my ear off and then he's falling over in a heap in a spray of blood the next! You tell me what's happening!"

Their siblings were mumbling amongst each other in extreme concern for their fallen brother. Shuffling could be heard, Oklahoma appearing at the front of the group and looking down at New York in horror.

"Did he get bombed?!"

Her family stared at her terrified, realizing the possibility of that being the case. "I was like this once, remember? Oklahoma City? 1995? I looked an awful lot like that!" Her voice was starting to waver as she watched her big brother writhe in agony.

Delaware forced herself through the rapidly growing crowd of states, Pennsylvania and Maine close behind her. She threw herself down next to New York, dropping any concern she might have had for her now blood-stained pants as she looked over him with watery eyes.

"New York? New York, can you hear me? It's Delaware. What happened?"

New York coughed, hacking up blood and grimacing in pain. "I-I-I... I don't..."

"Shh..." Maine hushed him and her sister gently. "You don't need to answer. You need rest. We can piece everything together later, ayuh."

New York nodded, more focused on trying to force air into his lungs. Pennsylvania immediately stood up as Delaware pointed back towards the door. "Go get bandages and whatever else you can find. We need to stop the bleeding."

Pennsylvania was shoving herself unceremoniously through the crowd and out the door before Delaware could say anything else. "Someone go get towels and water, now!" Delaware ordered. "And turn on the TV! I don't care what Maine says right now! We need answers!"

"On it." Connecticut said simply as he rushed out the door, Nevada following close behind.

"Texas, help me carry him. Everyone else, get out of the way!"

Everyone hustled through the doorway as Texas picked up his brother as gently as possible. New York gasped in pain as he was lifted from the ground and carried towards the doorway.

"Where do I take him?"

"The couch by the TV. It's easy to get to and it can be replaced if it stains. Besides, there has to be something on the news."

The two slowly made their way downstairs as New York continued to spasm painfully in Texas's grasp. Maine quickly ran past them, not daring to look any of them in the eye. She didn't bother to say anything. She hadn't spoken up about her weird feeling. She had felt something was wrong even before Massachusetts, but she had never said anything. She knew that her words had meaning among her siblings. She may be quiet, but her siblings knew better than to blow off anything she ever bothered to say, and as she watched her brother bleed out before her, she couldn't help but feel a sense of guilt wash over her. She couldn't look at him.

Delaware and Texas approached the living room carefully, Texas trying to be as gentle as possible as Delaware went ahead of him. Several states had gathered around the TV, most of them in complete shock. Others were openly crying. Even tough Russian-raised girl Alaska and forever morally stunted Nevada were wide eyed and covering their mouths at what they were looking at. Delaware approached from behind, getting her first look at what was happening to New York.

Her blood ran cold at the sight of it.

New Jersey looked up at her, having completely given up on hiding his tears. It subconsciously terrified her. New Jersey hated New York. They were always butting heads and fighting with each other everyday. They were always trying to best each other and always making the other's life miserable. In fact, Massachusetts didn't like New York either, but he was in a similar state of disbelief and fear. Seeing New Jersey cry for him, cry for someone he always fought with, it was too much. She glanced behind her, watching as Texas seemed to completely space out at the sight that was displayed before them on the news. He held New York closer to him. Whether he was being protective or somewhat comforting himself, she wasn't sure.

"Delaware..." New Jersey's wavering voice startled her out of her thoughts. "...What do we do?"

What do we do? The question replayed itself over and over in her mind. What could they do? What could they do other then stare in awe at the sickening black smoke billowing out of the giant hole at the top of the north tower of the World Trade Center?

Nothing. They could do absolutely nothing.


"What is taking that idiot so long?" England thought in annoyance as he impatiently strummed his fingers against the table. If he remembered correctly, America had agreed to return quickly when England offered to help him. It was just a briefcase and a phone, and his room wasn't that far away. There was no way it would take that long to retrieve those items.

He left ten minutes ago.

He'd zoned out as soon as Prussia had forced himself to the podium. Despite Germany's protests, Prussia had jumped up unannounced and started going off about a bunch of nonsense that England didn't even bother to pay attention to, and looking around and the other countries' faces, he wasn't the only one who thought that. Whatever he was talking about was probably even less likely than one of America's crazy ideas and impossible to take seriously. He wasn't even a country anymore, anyway, so why was he even here, anyway? As Germany and Prussia fought for control of the meeting and everyone else started falling into the usual chaos, England found himself starting to fall asleep.

Then someone's phone rang.

England hadn't even realized that Canada was there at all, but he immediately noticed the ringing of his cellphone as he began to dig through his stuff to find it. He didn't even bother to leave and answer it outside. One look at the name and he answered it on the spot. "Yes?"

England wasn't sure why something so insignificant had caught his attention. First off, it was just a cellphone. Literally everyone had those. Second, it was Canada. No explanation needed. He blamed it on how oddly unfocused he was at the moment, and also Prussia for whatever his new development was supposed to be. Honestly, he was being utterly ridiculous.

"You're spacing out."

England jerked up at the sound of France's voice before returning to his brooding. "Why would you care, frog?"

France shrugged. "Just something I noticed. You should pay more attention to your surroundings though, mon cher. I didn't have to reveal my presence to you. Ohohohoho."

"Get lost." England sneered as France continued on his merry way. He wasn't in the mood for his antics at the moment. He was already in a bad mood, because someone hadn't gotten back. Seriously, what was taking him so long?

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something. France had stopped mid step. Again, another thing that shouldn't have gained his attention so easily, but there was nothing else to bother paying attention to, so he didn't give it much more thought. France hadn't moved from his spot, his posture becoming somewhat less relaxed. Then England looked at his face. He was mostly turned away from him, but England could see him enough to noticed the concern in his expression. He looked as if something was starting to trouble him. His eyes were firmly fixed on one spot and he looked ready to act at any second if need be. Curious, England followed his gaze and found Canada.

Canada looked like he was ready to cry.

His face had gone completely white and he was shaking, a look of utter disbelief on his face as he shook his head and started glancing at the door over and over again. He was itching to get out. "A-A-Are you... Are you s-sure?"

Another second of waiting and he was up, almost dropping his phone and making a beeline for the exit. He brushed past France on his way out. "Canada-"

"Excuse me!"

He didn't even bother looking back. He just ran as fast as he could, yelling incoherency into his phone as he disappeared down the hall, leaving France in a state of confusion. Eventually, France pulled out his own phone, probably to try and see if he could figure out anything about what was going on. England himself had also become quite curious, but a part of him wondered if he wanted to know the answer. It was a weird thought, but as he watched France's face as he skimmed through whatever news source he'd come across, a sense of dread was starting to come over him. France's expression was now mirroring Canada's from just a moment ago, pale with fear and disbelief. He covered his mouth, not able to fully grasp what he was looking at. It was such a foreign look on him, and England found himself feeling uncomfortable. France suddenly turned towards him, approaching him swiftly and with a sense of urgency.

"Do those televisions work?" he pointed towards the large flat screens that decorated the far side of the room. Though they were mostly for show and for presentations, it was certainly possible to use them for entertainment purposes.

"Of course they do." England scoffed. "Why wouldn't-"

France had already turned and left, no longer at a walk, now running around the table to where Germany and Prussia were still bickering. "Germany! Direct everyone's attention towards those screens! Turn them on! Quickly!"

"What?" Germany was completely caught off guard by the fear in France's voice. "Why do you want us to-"

"Just do it!" he whirled back around to England, yelling at him from across the room. "Turn them on, now, Angleterre! Then come and find us! Hurry! HURRY!"

And he was out the door, bolting after Canada as fast as humanly possible before England could question his orders. By now, the commotion had gotten the attention of all of the other nations. Many of them were looking at each other in confusion, wondering what in the world had gotten the Frenchman so riled up. England found himself getting more and more nervous as the suspense pressed on.

"Well?" Prussia was the one to finally speak up. "You heard the man. Turn them on."

After messing with the TVs for a minute or two, Germany, with England's help, was able to get them up and running. England had assumed that the news station was the obvious choice to go to for answers, but he didn't have to worry about it. It was already on the news.

And what England saw made his heart stop. "...Is...Isn't that New York...?"


For what felt like hours, the states hurried around in order to gain at least some semblance of control. It was about this time that they really started remembering that not all of them were there at home that day. Rarely was there ever a day that every state was home together in one house. Many of the western states were at their state homes making frantic calls to whoever would answer them, as the phone lines were getting jammed and it was becoming harder and harder to contact them. Some got through, though. Massachusetts getting a call from Illinois asking about New York's condition and everyone elses' well being was one of the things that really unnerved him. Illinois was a bit selfish and had a habit of ignoring the needs of others, but he was also one of the quickest at gathering the latest news, and he was the first to call. What got to Massachusetts was that he called out of concern in the first place, and he seemed scared. It was unlike him, and it only served to remind him of what was happening around him.

They did all they could to make New York comfortable. He was still bleeding profusely and it was scaring them how much blood he was losing. His breathing was as close to back to normal as it could get in his condition, ragged and heavy as he forced air into his lungs. He skin was going pale and beads of sweat were running down his face. Massachusetts may not always get along with New York, but seeing his younger brother like this shook him to his core. He was always so confident, and it hurt to watch him struggle just to breathe. As Massachusetts watched the tower burn in morbid fascination, New York turned to him.

"What happened to me?" rasped sadly.

Massachusetts looked back at him, sympathy flashing across his eyes. "From what we understand, someone flew a passenger plane into the north tower."

New York stared at him blankly, not quite comprehending what he was just told. Massachusetts sighed. "You're not the only one in shock."

"Aww, so you care?" New York chimed with a hint of mockery in his voice. It felt somewhat normal to hear and it helped to relax the other state.

"So how do you think it happened?" Pennsylvania asked as she returned with more first aid supplies and towels.

"Who knows." Massachusetts mused. "It's quite the crash, isn't it?"

Other states were stopping to watch what was unfolding on screen. West Virginia hugged her older clone as tears fell down her eyes. "Oh, Virginia," she cried. "All those people..."

"I know..."

"What kinda stupid move was this, anyway?" South Carolina seethed from Massachusetts's right. "What even happened!?"

"I wish I knew, hon." he heard Maryland say from somewhere else. "I think we all do."

"I can personally confirm this." Ohio said from Maryland's direction.

Massachusetts looked towards South Carolina, who was absolutely livid. The fact that someone would be so careless as to hurt her family for no apparent reason really ticked her off. It was useless bloodshed of innocent people who had no clue what they were walking into, or that anything would happen in the first place, and that wasn't fair.While he let South blow off steam, he took a look at her younger twin sister and noticed something interesting.

North Carolina had the same disbelief as everyone else and an inferno raging behind her eyes that matched her sister's. However, there was something else there as she stared in horror at the screen. Was it fear? Uncertainty? He couldn't really put his finger on, but there was something going on in her mind. A thought that had yet to cross any of them. The clock struck 9:00am.

"That was definitely quite the landing job they did there." Nevada joked nervously. Even he was thrown off by such an event, and Massachusetts didn't even know that he had a moral compass to get thrown off by anything.

New York chuckled before grimacing. It hurt to laugh. "Yeah, it's something else, isn't it? Hurts a lot, though."

"So what do you think caused it?" Alaska asked from somewhere behind them.

"Engine failure, maybe?" Michigan proposed.

"Maybe they couldn't see." Georgia said.

"Or someone was just stupid." New Jersey hissed.

"Whatever it was, it's quite the accident, isn't it?" Vermont thought aloud.

"That's impossible."

Everyone was startled by the power behind North Carolina's words. She'd spoken loudly, forcing everyone to hear her. Her eyes were burning and her face was grave. Accident? No. She didn't believe it for a second. The other states stared at her, not quite sure what she was trying to say.

"What's impossible, North?" Maryland asked in a hushed voice.

North Carolina didn't miss a beat. "This being an accident. There's no way this was a mistake."

Everyone stared at her in complete shock. Yes, it had crossed the minds of some that this was an intentional attack against them, but none of them thought over it for long. It just seemed so... It didn't seem like something that could happen to them. They were the United freaking States! They were invincible, right?

North Carolina seemed to think otherwise.

"Please explain to us, North," Massachusetts ordered, "Why you would believe that this is intentional."

"I'd like to hear this myself." Delaware added.

New York didn't say a word.

"I'm a pilot, remember?" North Carolina said. "I know what it's like to fly a plane. For crying out loud, I helped invent it. I know how difficult it is to fly one-"

"I don't see how-" North Carolina cut Massachusetts off immediately.

"My point is that there's no way someone could make a mistake like that in those conditions."

"But what if the engine did fail?" New Hampshire quietly wondered aloud.

"Even if it did," North spat. "The pilot would know better than to fly directly into a populated area and risk this!" she pointed feverishly at the TV. "There's literally an entire ocean for them to land into instead!"

"Maybe they couldn't see."

North Carolina didn't even bother looking at whoever said that. "In that weather? Are you freaking kidding me?!" she yelled. "It's gorgeous out there! It's perfect flying conditions! You couldn't ask for better weather for a flight! It's so clear!"

"What if the pilot was a novice?"

"FORGET THAT!" North Carolina was screaming at the top of her lungs now, the rage building behind her eyes being fully let loose. "Not even a novice would make a mistake like THAT! Besides, that was a commercial airliner! If you're that bad at flying, then WHY WOULD THEY EVEN HIRE YOU!?"

They didn't want to believe it. None of them wanted to accept what North Carolina was explaining so clearly to them. It couldn't be intentional. It just couldn't. But everything they said was immediately shot down. North Carolina wasn't beating around the bush. She knew how to fly, and she knew that there was no way someone could crash so spectacularly in such conditions. She just couldn't comprehend that. As they all continued to argue, the hand of the clock moved on. 9:03am.

Rhode Island's voice could be heard clear as day. He didn't even have to yell when he saw it. His words stuck out so much that no one missed them. They all turned to face him, eyes wide with fear as they were given only mere seconds to let them sink in. Rhode Island stood, pointing at the screen in confusion and worry at what they realized was about to happen. North Carolina was right.

"Hey guys, isn't that another plane?"

BOOM

New York screamed.