Where were You When The World Stopped Turning

Chapter 3

Dean could only stare in horror at the TV screen. It couldn't be true, his little brother couldn't be gone. Not after the last words Dean had spoken to him. Agony filled his heart, knowing he would never again be able to make it up to Sam.

"We have to go and find him" Dean heard himself saying "we have to bring him back."

"At this point, if he was on that plane. There won't be anything to bring back." John said, his voice belying the shock that he felt. He couldn't believe that his youngest son was gone. Like Dean, John had the strongest urge to go and get Sam's body so he could have a hunter's burial. John shook his head he shouldn't even be thinking about having any kind of burial for his youngest. Anger burned hot through John's veins, he wanted to bring whoever had been flying the plane back so that he could kill them himself for not taking care of the passengers on the plane.

"Pack your bags" John said abruptly "we are going to New York. I am sure they will need volunteers to help search." Even then as John and Dean watched, The North Tower collapsed. Dean shook his head, he still couldn't believe this was happening. It was scary to think that one minute you were on this earth and the next you weren't. Wherever Sam was now, Dean hoped he hadn't suffered. He couldn't stand the thought of Sam having died in pain. It tore his heart to pieces thinking about it, after everything Sam had gone through in his young life, he deserved an easy death. Dean swallowed hard, before pushing himself away from the table. If they were going to get into New York anytime soon, they would have to leave quickly, Dean couldn't grieve for his little brother right now, there would be time for that later. Making his way down the hall, Dean entered his room if it could have even been called that. It was about as a small as a closet. Leaving, barely room for the twin sized bed. Grabbing his bag, Dean proceeded to throw his clothes in the bag, not caring how the went in. The only thing that mattered was getting to Sam, even if there was nothing left of him to bring home. Dean wished more than anything that he had been there to protect Sam, it was his job as an older brother to protect the younger one, and in that Dean had failed miserably. He had left Sam walk out the door thinking that Dean hated him. What kind of brother did that make him? Dean thought as he stared glumly at the floor. Tears filled his eyes as he remembered the pained look in Sam's eyes, Sam had truly believed that Dean hated him for wanting a better life.

"Get a move on it, Dean" John's voice interrupted Dean's self-flagellation, Dean shook his head clearing his thoughts, he grabbed his bag, and walked out the door not looking back. Within five minutes Dean and John were both in the Impala driving towards an unknown future. Their minds both on Sam and the things that had been said before he had left.

A Few hours previous

Sam had woken up in his bed, staring up at the ceiling, it was strange to wake up in a place where Dean and their father were not. Sam missed both of them terribly but he knew that he had made the right choice for himself. Everyone deserve a future, and Sam didn't need to be a genius to know that hunting had no future for him. He hated hurting his family, but he had allowed them to make his decisions for him for more than long enough.

Sitting up, Sam glanced at the bedside clock, it read 6:30. Sam had to report to the North Tower at 7:30. Getting up, Sam stretched his stiff muscles, the motel bed wasn't the most comfortable, but considering some of the places Sam had slept in, he figured he couldn't complain.

It took Sam thirty minutes to get ready and then he headed out the door, not knowing that today would possibly be his last on Earth. Since Sam had already claimed experience on the job application, he would be skipping the training and just shadowing the security guard until he was comfortable with his duties.

Once he arrived at the North Towered, Sam made his way over to the security desk, where he clocked in.

"I guess you are the new hire. My name is Jacob Thomas." he held out his hand and Sam shook it before introducing himself.

"Sam Winchester." Sam said, "how long have you worked here?" the man looked to be a few years older than Dean.

"Going on 11 years now" Jacob replied "Started when I was eighteen." Sam done the math in his head, that made him a little older than Dean. There was something about the man's personality that made him think of Dean. Sam's chest ached at the thought of his older brother. Sam still couldn't believe that Dean had told him that Sam was dead to him.

"You're a little young to have much experience in this area?" Jacob mentioned.

"My father was a security guard, and I shadowed him quite a bit. Things used to get pretty rough where he worked before and I was around a lot. He taught me how to deal with tough situations." Sam explained, "most don't care how I got my experience just that I have it."

"You don't want to stay in this line of work though do you? You look like a smart man, surely you could have gone to college."

"College was the reason I moved to New York" Sam said "but something happened and they have no record of me in their system, despite the fact that I applied earlier in the year. So until I can reapply, I might as well work."

"That sucks" Jacob said "you would think that they would be able to keep better track of their files."

"I think my brother might have helped them lose it." Sam said "My brother and father weren't happy with me wanting to leave."

"They should have been happy that you wanted to attend college, so many your age don't want to."

Sam found that he liked Jacob, he had the same weird, funny personality that Dean had, and though that also made Sam miss Dean. It also helped Sam with being away from his family for the first time. Sam found his first day flying by, until about 11 when he heard a loud boom, as he was heading up the stairs to do a security check on another floor. Sam glanced at Jacob, whatever that noise had been, it hadn't sounded good. Without Jacob having to say anything, Sam and Jacob hurried up the stairs sensing there was something serious going, and the closer Sam and Jacob got, the more d they smelled, people were beginning to rush down the stairs.

"A plane crashed into the side of the building" someone explained as they rushed past Sam and Jacob. They glanced at each other, there had to be some way that they could help.

"You help the injured down the stairs" Sam instructed Jacob, sensing the other man's panic. It was clear that the older man had never dealt with something like this before. Neither had Sam, but Sam had hunting experience where he had helped clear out people after a hunt had done wrong. Sam turned his back to Jacob and rushed into the room. There were many injured but there were even more dead. Sam felt sick to his stomach at the sight before him. How could he even help them? There were so many and only one of him.

Sam felt like he had been blinded by panic, how could he have been so confident with sending Jacob down stairs, Sam had thought he could deal with this situation but he didn't think he could. Even with all of his father's training, Sam had never been prepared for something on this scale. There was no way that Sam could save everyone but that didn't mean he wasn't going to try. With his mind made up, Sam began moving as many injured into the hall as possible. Sam struggled to ignore the cries for help, his heart aching knowing that some that were still alive would still probably die on this floor. Sam ignored the blood on his hands as he helped someone else out into the hall, Jacob helped the injured down stairs.

"Help is on the way, Sam" he said "we just have to keep going and get as many as we can out." Sam nodded and turned back to someone else. He wasn't sure of what had happened, but it was sad that so many had lost their lives, many more would die before this was over.

As Sam started down the stairs, he heard a loud groaning, and looking up he saw steel beams rushing towards him and Jacob, shoving Jacob out of the way, Sam cried out in pain as the beam hit him square on the back and he landed on the hard concrete staircase. Sam's head landed hard on the floor, a sickening thump sounding as he lost consciousness, he thought he heard Jacob's voice shouting for him.

John and Dean made quick time to New York, they fought the traffic. Their radio station turned to the news, Dean was nervously biting this fingernails. Thousands had been injured already, knowing that Sam was lost in there somewhere was making Dean sick to his stomach. His brother couldn't be lost to them, he had to still be alive. Still, knowing that Sam had been on that plane. Dean doubted that he had survived. No one could have.

"No one could have survived on that plane" Dean muttered to his father as they found a place to park the Impala and they started towards the Twin Towers.

"He might have" John said "We have to have hope that he got through somehow." but even as he said that they had reached the Twin Towers, not only had the North Tower collapsed but a second plane had hit the other tower, they watched in horror as it too collapsed, leaving a cloud of dust and grief surrounding the two buildings.

"Oh my god" Dean said as bile filled his throat at the sight, firemen were everywhere bodies that had been pulled out where lying on the ground. Dean turned and vomited on the ground. He hadn't expected it to be this bad, now he had the feeling that Sam hadn't survived.

John made his way over to the Firefighter that appeared to be in charge.

"My son was on that plane, is there anyway that he could have been pulled out."

"I'm sorry" The firefighter told John "but whoever was on that plane didn't survive in fact there is nothing left of them to even pull out. I'm sorry."

Thanks for reading. It might take me a couple weeks to get the next chapter up, my computer has decided its time to quite on me. Thanks again for the reviews (more reviews quicker updates) Liz