Good morrow to you my fellow fanfic kinsmen… just kidding. Whad up my peoples. Here's ch 3, we now are caught up with Nosedive as he travels to Staten Island to bring Karen back home.

Disclaimer: Is everybody clear on what I do and don't own? Yes, good now on with the story.

Ch 3.

10:59am

The ferry pulls into the pier on Staten Island where police and National Guardsmen were waiting to help the passengers disembark and lead them to check-in stations so families can locate them later, afterwards Nosedive and Karen went to get something to eat at a near-by diner. "So how far do you live from here?" asked Nosedive while waiting for their food.

"Its another 45 mins. to get to my neighbors house."

"Wait your neighbors house?"

"My Mommy and Daddy told me if there was ever an emergency, I would go to Mr. and Mrs. Ecru house next door."

"That's a good plan."

"It helps to be prepared."

"You know, you are really brave. Didn't expect that from someone your age."

"There are kids younger than me that are just as brave."

"I guess being brave isn't the opposite of fear but knowing that there's something more important than being afraid."

"You got that from a movie."

Both of them started laughing as the waitress bought them their food.

An hour later they were on a train heading out towards Trottenville where she lived. Once they reached the final stop they were able to get in touch with Mr. Ecru, 20 mins later he came and picked them up and brought them to the house.

"Oh my gracious, thank the gods that you're alright." said Mrs. Ecru

"We've been trying to reach your mom in Manhattan but all the call circuits are completely jammed." said Mr. Ecru

"So I guess that means I wouldn't be able to get through to try and reach my team."

"I'm sorry sugar, but no." said Mrs. Ecru

"Do you think I could they would let me get back to Manhattan by ferry?"

"Not at this time, ferries are only taking evacuees from the Manhattan. All the bridges and tunnels leading out of Manhattan are all closed to traffic so the bus is out of the question right now as well."

"For right now you'll just have to stay put with us until it's safe to go back." said Mr. Ecru

"Thank you Mr. Ecru, Mrs. Ecru."

"Oh please sug, call me Martha."

"And you can call me, Steve"

"Alright then, Steve and Martha it is."

As day turns to night the phone lines were finally starting to clear up and Martha finally got through to Karen's mom to let her know that she is safe.

"Oh thank heavens, I was so worried when her school said that she was missing."

"Well it was the fates that lead Nosedive to her and he was kind enough to bring her all the way here."

"Is he still there?"

"Yes he is, hold on a sec…"

"Hello?"

"Hi Nosedive this is Rachel Peterson, I'm Karen's Mother."

"Oh hi, how are you?"

"I'm great, now that I know my daughter is safe and sound. I'm heading out there right now. Her father is still at ground zero searching for survivors."

"Karen will be happy to see you."

"Where is she?"

She's taking a bath but she'll be out in a min.."

Karen came down the hall dressed in a nightshirt and pajama pants, when she heard Nosedive on the phone.

"Here she is now" Nosedive hands her the phone and leaves the room

Nosedive could hear the happy chatter of Karen as she tells her mom about everything that happened. He leaned against the wall and his thoughts drifted to his team back in Manhattan, oh how his brother must be worried sick about him.

"You alright sug?"

"Yeah, just thinking about my teammates. They gotta be worried out of their minds."

"Well as soon as Karen gets off the phone, you can call your team and let them know that you're alright."

"Thank you, I'd appreciate that"

10:00 pm

After Karen was ushered off to bed Nosedive was left alone in the kitchen, He took a deep breath then dialed the number to the Plaza hotel.

"Front Desk."

"Yes can you connect me to room 1294 please"

"Right away sir,"

[busy signal]

[Ring]

"Hello?"

Cheyenne?

"Nosedive?! Oh my god, are you alright?

"Yeah I'm fine.

{off the phone}

"Guys it's Nosedive, he's ok"

{back on the phone}

"Hold on let me put you on speaker"

{activates Speakerphone}

"Hey kid"

"Nosedive"

"your alright"

"Thank Goodness"

"It's so good to hear all of you."

"Where are you?" asked Wildwing

"I'm at the Ecru's home out in Trottenville, Staten Island."

"How did you get out there?" asked Duke

"It's a long story but as soon as it's all clear I'll be able to head back to Manhattan, then I can tell you all about it."

"I look forward to it, see you soon."

"Bye guys."

[hangs up]

Steve comes in and tells Nosedive that people were aloud to head back to Manhattan, Martha rides with them to the train station.

"Thank you both for everything."

"It was our pleasure Nosedive." said Steve

Martha takes a necklace out of her pouch and places it around Nosedive's neck.

"What's this?"

"It is the symbol of Horus, God of protection. May he keep you safe on your trip back."

"Thank you."

Nosedive gets on the train and it pulls off heading to St. George ferry terminal. Looking out the window he sees a train going in the opposite direction.

'I wonder if Karen's mom is on that train.' he thought

Soon enough he was on the Staten Island Ferry heading across the harbor back to Manhattan. He stood on the bow looking ahead at the two pillars of light in the sky where the twin towers once stood coming closer, when the ferry docks he heads down the block trying to find a bus or a train to get to the hotel. He wandered around for what seemed like forever when he came upon ground zero.

The sight that laid there before him seemed so foreign from the sight that he saw this morning. He felt himself being drawn to there as if he wanted to help however he was stopped by a pair of arms.

"Are you alright?"

Nosedive looks at the firefighter that stopped him.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I'm afraid not, it's now a recovery effort now. Is there someplace you can go?"

"The Plaza Hotel, my teammates are waiting for me."

"Come on, lets get you a ride over there."

The firefighter lead Nosedive to an unmarked police cruiser, wrapped a blanket around him and placed him in the cruiser. He told the driver where to go and patted on the roof.

Nosedive looks at the firefighter and saw the name "Peterson" on his badge. As the cruiser pulls away he sits back and thinks about Karen and her mom 'atleast she will have both of her family when she wakes up.' he thought

11:45 pm

Nosedive is walking down the hall heading to his teams suite, holding on to the blanket around him he walks in to find that some were asleep and others were watching TV. Wildwing comes out of their room and sees Nosedive standing there.

"Nosedive?"

He turns around and Wildwing walks up to him, placing his hand on Nosedive's cheek. A tear rolls down Nosedive's face as Wildwing brings him into a hug. He clutches him as he starts shaking tears flowing quicker. Wildwing holds him feeling his legs buckle from underneath him, rubbing his back he sits on the floor letting Nosedive fall into him as he tries to cry but couldn't.

"It's alright baby bro, let it out."

A long shrieking wail comes out of him as everything came at him at one time. His wail turned into uncontrollable sobs as he clutched to Wildwing, his brother, his life line. By this time all the ducks and the dancers were awake watching the whole scene with tears in their eyes. Wildwing just rocked Nosedive and rubbed his back soothingly.

"Shhh, it's ok Nosedive. You're safe. Everything is ok."

"No it's not ok, everything has changed." he whispered

Wildwing looked at his teammates and friends as Nosedive continues to cry softly. He was right everything had changed and this country was never gonna be the same.

Whoa that was a tough one to type and look at the time I better get to bed. Got school in the morning.