What If He Never Left

by Vgerland

What if Superman never left. What if he promised his mother he would talk to Lois before leaving with an early November 2000 starting timeline. Chapter 9 Where Has He Gone is NOW UP Be aware that this chapter deals with the aftermath of 911.

6. So It Begins

To prefix this chapter

Warning intense scenes based on some very real facts from 9/11

I just want to state that this is my wishful thinking that he would have been able to make a difference on that fateful day if he were only real. It was not meant in any way to diminish the real heroism or loss of life. If Superman could not have made a substantial difference there would be no reason to even write the story. This story is me trying to show what the world could be with Superman in it. Hopefully it would be a better world. Too bad he is not real. I have wished he was almost all my life, never more than on that day.

I let a couple people read and comment prior to posting. babettew54 or as known on mistressbabette51 was at first skeptical about some of the things Superman did. After I explained in a manner similar to the paragraph above she made this comment that she has allowed me to share here:

There were many, many heroes that day. One man can make a difference, so go for it. That is the point, after all.

Thank you for reading. And thank you to all who leave a comment or review.

Xoxoxoxoxo

Chapter 6 – Part 1 - So It Begins

Superman arrived at the North Tower and immediately realized it was useless for him to try and blow the fire out. The building was drenched in jet fuel feeding the fire at an intense rate. Quickly landing on the roof and finding the door locked he tore it off completely allowing victims already arriving there a means of exit.

Remembering that he had passed a large semi end dump tractor trailer combination at a nearby construction site Superman raced back and tore the trailer off the large semi and quickly flew back with it. He then hovered right next to a window one floor above the fire where a large group of people were gathering near a large broken out window threatening to jump. Seeing him, they cheered and immediately started jumping into the open trailer, many helping others that were afraid, unable or reluctant to make the small leap of faith into the flying open trailer. Superman urged them on, imploring them to hurry.

Lowering the trailer to the ground a safe distance away from the building he rushed the people out of the trailer all the while planning his next move. He watched a helicopter pilot make an attempt to land on the roof but have to pull away due to the intense fire and wind. While the people emptied the trailer he made use of the time pulling people out of windows a couple at a time. Once the trailer was emptied he once again took off with it to better collect the victims. This time he headed for the rooftop where many had gathered hoping for a helicopter rescue once he had opened the exit door. Superman feared that means of rescue would never arrive so it was up to him. Flying up he had to keep telling himself to concentrate on what he was doing in order to keep the growing din of screams from distracting him from what needed to be done to make the most efficient rescues. Otherwise many more would be lost. While several dozen people raced to fill the trailer Superman flew off not resting for a second and caught several people falling from the building having either jumped or fallen out windows to escape the fire.

The screams and cries were becoming so overwhelming in Superman's head that he could barely keep from covering his ears. Racing back up to the trailer now full he picked up the trailer and began lowering it as fast as the frail bodies inside would allow. He tried to keep his movements steady all the while the endless screams were taking a toll on his senses. Just as he was about halfway down the drop to unload the group from the roof, now huddled in the trailer, he heard the screams of even more people and the unmistakable sound of a jet moving fast in the sky to his far back. Jerking his head around to look at what he was hearing he saw, to his utter horror, a second jet heading straight for the South Tower.

"No, this can't be happening!" He screamed, nearly overcome by the implication of what he was witnessing. "It wasn't an accident at all!" Without waiting he dropped the trailer down as fast as he dared move with the people cowering in the open trailer finally letting it fall the final few feet. He shot up towards the plane at blinding speed with tears overflowing his eyes barely making it in time to push it away from its intended target and back up into the sky.

Looking through the aircraft shell into the c0ckpit he saw the pilot slumped behind his seat not breathing while another non-uniformed man sat in his seat screaming and waving his fists in the air as he fought to control the jet after the sudden unexpected jolt from below. The rest of the flight crew was also somehow subdued laying about the small room in heaps.

Without even thinking Superman released his grip of the plane and flew around to the cabin door grabbing it off of its hinges. He entered the plane instantly assessing the rest of the scene. With no remorse he decisively knocked all of the hijackers out including the ones who had barricaded themselves in the c0ckpit. Before exiting the c0ckpit he turned the engines off then exited the plane the way he entered never even having slowed down long enough to be visible. Still moving as quickly as possible while keeping the passengers safe he took a position under the now falling plane and flew it to Laguardia Airport where he sat it down on a far field as emergency and security cars rushed to the location.

Not stopping to wait for the cars to arrive Superman headed back to the towers once again picking up the trailer since it allowed him the fastest means to get people off the top floors. He knew the firemen were concentrating on the floors below the totally devastated impact zone, floors 93 to 101. Again he had to fight to maintain his concentration amidst the ponderous moans, screams and calls for help.

As he landed on the ground after several more trips letting a group quickly exit the trailer a fire chief ran up and handed him a walkie talkie and the two men quickly exchanged information and concerns. Superman would continue to concentrate on the upper floors 102-110 above the impact zone and the fireman the lower floors. Attaching the device to his belt he searched the building with his vision and hearing and updated the fire chief on everything he saw and heard including the problems the rescuers were experiencing with communication.

Rushing away mid-sentence Superman once again caught several victims falling from the burning tower. He deposited them near EMT units out of harms way before returning to the fire chief where he once again grabbed the trailer for yet another trip to retrieve victims. With each full load of victims others were left waiting for rescue. Superman called out to them offering hope that he would be back for them, they just had to hold on a little longer. As he was landing with the eleventh group of victims in the trailer he looked up at the building in shock as if suddenly hearing something ominous. For a split second he let his mask fall and the fear showed on his face, not for his own safety but for those still waiting rescue.

"Get everyone out. NOW! Call all your men out!" he shouted to the fire chiefs, "The building is groaning, I think it's about to collapse!"

Racing up the side of the building in a last ditch effort Superman smashed through a couple floors below the burned out structure and braced a main beam trying to relieve the pressure as he blew with all his might trying to cool the steel beam structure that was melting as he watched with his x-ray vision. But he was too late, there was no way for his cooling breath to reach the beams hidden in the structure, his efforts would never be enough. His thoughts tortured him, why had he failed to see this coming?

He heard muffled voices far behind him in the stairwell. Searching with his eyes he saw two firefighters helping someone down the darkened stairwell. "Get out NOW! There's no time." He shouted. "The building is about to collapse around us." Bracing the steel beam with his shoulders and back he grabbed the walkie talkie at his belt and pushed the button. "Everyone, out of the building, NOW! It's about to collapse!" …static… was his only response.

Throwing the device aside he heard the building start to moan even deeper then looking through the building to the upper most floors he saw the structure suddenly start to shake and seemingly turn to a cloud of dust and debris as it fell towards him about to take him down with it as it fell.

As he stayed in place trying to buy just a little more time he heard screams coming from everywhere. Screams of people he had told to hold on and wait, that he would be back for them. Screams of people he had already failed or was within seconds of failing. Unable to do anything more he started to cover his ears feeling totally defeated, but not willing to give up till it was over he instead began moving with the speed of light. Somehow he managed to get ahead of the destruction and retrieve the two firefighters racing down the stairs with the injured victim in tow before the falling building caught them. Wrapping his cape and body around the three he managed to stay ahead of the white death claiming everything in its wake.

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Part 2 – What's Happening?

Lois, Perry and Richard stood in the open bullpen not believing their eyes as the entire room was mesmerized by the unfolding scene. They had seen Superman arrive and leave returning with what looked like some kind of truck bed and began evacuating people. Perry came to his senses first and quickly asked. "Richard can you fly a team of reporters to New York in the next couple hours?"

"Uh, Yeah, sure. Just let me make a couple calls."

He ran to his office as Chloe jumped up having heard what Perry said. She spoke up, "Chief, let me go. I have a lot of contacts in New York City with the Cable News network."

"I'm going too Perry," Lois added, "this is going to be too big of a story for just a couple reporters. I want to be there."

Speaking so the others could easily hear, "Lois, you're staying here. Clark is already out of town on that assignment I sent him on this morning. Chloe you're going, Jimmy, Gill you two get your stuff ready we need full coverage of this."

"What! What do you mean I'm staying here! This has my name all over it, Superman is there."

"Lois you have a baby that is not yet 3 months old. You are staying here! You can still cover the event, but you'll do it from here and that is final."

"Chief!"

"Lois, my office, now!" He gave her a slight nudge in the right direction and followed her closing the door.

"Lois, you and I both know that Clark would want and need you to stay here out of harms way. He can not be worrying about you at a time like this. When he comes home I have a bad feeling he's going to need both you and Jason available to greet and comfort him."

"But, Chief…"

"That's my final decision." Hearing screams out in the bullpen they looked back at the monitor just in time to see a second plane about to hit the South Tower. Slight glimpses of distinctive bright red and blue were barely visible moving under the plane. Superman must have intercepted the plane seconds before it would have hit the South Tower. Seconds later the plane appeared to lose altitude before it recovered with a slight jerk and then moved quickly away, soon disappearing from sight.

Lois sat down hard in one of the chairs nearest the monitor. "Are we at war?" She almost whispered it as if afraid saying it any louder would make it even more real. Perry just shook his head sadly not knowing how to respond.

Within minutes Richard, Chloe, Jimmy and Gill headed out the bullpen heading to the Riverfront house to board Richard's seaplane to head to New York City. Perry barked out more orders to various people in the bullpen superseding the morning's assignments.

Lois raced out to retrieve Jason wanting him within eyesight on this terrible day. Returning a short time later she rejoined Perry in his office, he was busy keeping a close eye on the monitor while making calls to his own contacts. With Jason now sleeping innocently in a baby carrier on the office sofa completely unaware of all the mayhem going on around him she went back to work but like Perry kept a close eye on the monitor.

Every time Superman was mentioned or shown on the screen Lois stopped what she was doing and just watched. At one point they showed a taped feed from another source that showed a close up of Superman lowering a group of victims in the make-shift rescue carrier purportedly just as the second plane was approaching the South Tower. Superman appeared to react, screaming something before speeding up his descent dropping the trailer a few feet from the ground then disappearing.

Perry noticed Lois growing more and more tense. "He'll be fine Lois. He's used to dealing with disasters."

"Perry this is not a natural disaster. This is man made! Didn't you see the look on his face? This is slowly tearing him apart. People think he's made of steel but I know otherwise."

They continued working in silence. A short time later the announcement was made that all planes were to be grounded. Just a few minutes later there was news of a fire at the Pentagon but the cause was not immediately known. Word spread quickly that it had been a third plane that had crashed into the facility at 9:37 AM with possibly hundreds dead and many more injured at the site. Soon the monitor was switching between the two crash scenes.

A short time later news spread that a plane had gone down in a field in southwest Pennsylvania at 10:03 AM killing all aboard. There was widespread confusion across the United States with several erroneous reports of other events being broadcast and then contradicted. The terrible and frightening news seemed never ending.

Richard, Chloe, Jimmy and Gill came back into the newsroom about 10:20 AM explaining they were banned by the FAA and Government from taking to the air as they prepared to take off. Just as Richard entered Perry's office the monitor was showing Superman talking to a Fire Caption while the victims quickly unloaded the trailer. Suddenly he looked up at the building, and for a split second the fear or shock of what he was seeing or perhaps hearing played on his face. Then he appeared to shout an urgent command before blurring out of sight, presumably into the building.

Richard and Perry started talking quietly about what they were witnessing but Lois didn't take her attention off the monitor for a second from when Clark disappeared. As she watched she was barely able to breathe fearing what was happening and not knowing where Clark was. She had clearly seen that unguarded look on his face and it struck terror in her heart as to just what was happening. She watched the screen for what seemed like forever then saw the ominous white cloud of smoke at the top of the building. The tower was collapsing in onto itself.

"NO, NO where is he, where is he!" Richard and Perry looked from her to the monitor in shock then raced to her side as she began to fall, barely catching her before she hit the floor as she slipped out of consciousness.

Chloe came running into the room and moved Jason out of the way as the two men gently carried Lois to the sofa. The three tried to help her all the while barely able to tear their eyes off the horror unfolding on the monitor.

For several minutes the scene was utter chaos with multiple reports from various sources that Superman was inside the building when it came down and no sightings of him since. Richard ran to get a cool wet towel for Lois' head along with a glass of water.

Perry tried to comfort Lois as she came to, "Lois, take a deep breath. We'll manage to get through this, whatever happens."

Lois looked up into his eyes understanding his double meaning, but it was her husband that was missing, the father of her young son. Perhaps it was selfish but she couldn't bear the thought of losing him. The whole world needed him now more than ever. He just had to be alright, where was he? Even with her eyes closed she could see the tower collapsing into the white cloud of smoke and debris.

The commentators continued describing the devastation caused by the collapse of the tower. The images showed it all, the massive all consuming white cloud of dust and debris still filling the air. After several minutes rumors started flying that Superman had been spotted and soon a camera caught his image emerging from the cloud of smoke. Lois inhaled sharply as he was shown landing near an aid station completely covered in dust carrying something in his arms. The object looked like it was possibly a victim completely wrapped in what must have been his cape. He was shown carefully depositing the bundle on a gurney then quickly but gently unwrapped the cape to reveal not one but three unconscious but very alive people, two firefighters and a young woman.

Lois saw a look of desolation on his face, even covered in grime and dust she saw it. After unwrapping the victims he turned and walked towards the smoldering remains and just stared as if looking for any hint or hope of life. Several firefighters and police officers joined him none saying a word all showing to the world the same look of helplessness and utter despair.

Part 3

All across America and the world people were glued to their televisions. Having never witnessed anything like this it was hard to comprehend it was indeed real and not some sick movie.

One middle aged woman in Southern California watched in horror. She had been just getting ready for work when her normal early morning radio show started reporting that some kind of plane had somehow crashed into one of the World Trade Center Towers. Thinking they meant a small plane she continued getting ready for work. Minutes later the radio personality was doing something unheard of by telling people to turn on their television sets. Stopping what she was doing the woman went to the television in her bedroom and turned it on and was almost immediately overcome with what she was seeing. Just a few minutes after she turned the television on she stood in horror as a second plane came into view almost hitting the second tower.

Completely forgetting about getting ready for work she stood in shock tears streaming down her face uncontrolled. A short time later hearing the planes were bound for LAX and remembering her brother was due into LAX from the east coast sometime that very day she grabbed her phone and dialed his house. Thankfully he answered with a groggy voice annoyed his sleep had been disturbed. He had gotten in just a couple hours earlier. Relieved to hear his voice she quickly told him to turn his television on that something horrible was happening.

The woman finally managed to finish getting ready for work and took her usual route which went right past John Wayne Airport in Orange Country. As she passed the airport she noticed how quiet and still the sky seemed. She looked over at the planes all just sitting on the runways and chills ran up and down her spine thankful the sky was empty. She gave a quiet prayer for all those who had died or were even now in pain, physical or mental. What a dark dark day.

Xoxo

Author's Note:

The scene at the end was taken from my own experience on that day. My younger brother had indeed just barely arrived home from Florida a couple hours before everything started.