A/N: This was meant to be a one shot, I know. But after several suggestions and a lot of thought I decided that there was, in fact, more to be told to this story. The first chapter was probably the hardest story I have ever written, and I want to tread carefully but I have an idea of where I want this to lead. Thank you for reading.

Ch. 2

Alex dropped to his knees, taking in whatever breath of "fresh" air that he could get in. It was ungodly chaos, that's all he could think of as he closed his eyes and began to put together the pieces of what had just happened. There were still too many questions, ones he wasn't sure he wanted the answer to, but all he knew was that in a moment everything had changed, and that he was one of the lucky ones.

Sitting at his desk, flirting with his boss, Natalie, Alex had been looking forward to the rest of the day. He had a big presentation at 11 a.m., but knew that he would ace it. He always did. He could speak to anyone, any day, anywhere, using all of the charms he knew that he had been blessed with. It was no wonder he had been promoted to supervisor within his first two years.

Alex knew that by taking the promotion, he would step on a few toes, but he didn't mind that. Never one to care too much about what people thought of him (it was all business, he would tell them with a smile), he knew that he worked harder than most, if not all, of his coworkers and had about a thousand new ideas every day. This was his dream job-he was challenged constantly, but had also been compensated it for it. He wasn't rich by any stretch of the imagination, but with his investments and savings he had carved out a nice little life for himself. According to his plan next year he would buy his house and another year after that he would bring home the girl who was to take her place by his side. It would have made his parents happy if he had moved back to Ohio, but Columbus was small time, and he was not cut out to be small folk. He was destined for a life of greatness and importance, and here New York he had found that life, ever so willing to work to keep it.

He had even been in love a few times. Had come close to getting married, but he had gotten cold feet. Morgan had been a nice girl, but the timing was not right. Focusing on his career was his priority, and that had ruined more than one relationship. Sometimes he wondered if he would ever get married and have kids; he remembered how much fun he'd had with Andy when he was younger. But now Andy was all grown up and would no longer play dress up for the older brother he still idolized.

With dust and ashes and other inanimate objects still flying from the sky Alex stared at what had been his work home for the past five years as it disintegrated.

This can't be happening.

Damn.

Covered completely in dust and sweat, Alex reached for his cell phone, the one thing he had managed to grab on his way out of his office. After trying every number he could think of, he came to realize that the phone was a piece of junk, and then threw it a few feet away from him.

"Hey buddy. You might need this," a stranger threw it back at him before seemingly disappearing into the mass of people that had gathered around where he was sitting.

As Alex busied himself looking through the list of names on his phone list, it dawned on him why the stranger told him he needed a useless cell phone.

Identification.

His life flashed before him as he sat with his head resting upon his knees, taking in all of the carnage and destruction of the place he had grown to love as much as his hometown. Nothing made sense. The Towers- how could they just disappear in a few moments? And he couldn't even begin to start thinking of his coworkers- his mind was just as stressed as his body and couldn't begin to process that in less than a few hours Alex had just lost most, if not all, of his coworkers and most of the people he knew for the better part of the past decade.

There's a fire. What do they mean there's a fire? Put it out. I have a presentation to prepare for. I don't have time for this today.

Every time Alex tried to focus on the events of the day it seemed like he couldn't stop to put his thoughts together, his feelings overwhelming him- he was torn in so many directions it was as if his mind just couldn't catch up.

He was a supervisor; he had to keep it together in case his people were wandering about, looking for him. But he was only human, dammit, and how could a person be expected to keep it together during Doomsday? He pressed his forehead, dripping with dirt and sweat, against his folded hands and for the first time since he could remember, he began to pray.