Life's A Funny Thing

by ITgwendolendragon

Donna, Jackie and Hyde go to NYC in 2001 to fill out the final forms on Hyde's new record shop, but while they're there, they find a familiar face of whom they haven't seen in over 22 years. Donna/Eric/Jackie love triangle.

20. Chapter 20

A/N – Well guys, this is it. The grand finale and holy shit is it long. It is just over 20,000 words long. I really put everything I had into this chapter and I hope it lives up to your expectations. I'll start working on a sequel soon, but I might write another fanfic completely unrelated to this one, just to have something new to write on.

Marla's Lost – Yes, Casper is an abused child, I'll focus more on that in the sequel to this. Thanks for the review.

TieDyeJackson – Thanks for the review. That's what I was trying to do with Casper, try to make him as unlikeable as possible and turn around and make him a misunderstood character.

Disclaimer – Some of the words spoken in this chapter are real words spoken on the day of 9/11, so if anything looks familiar, that's probably why. I don't own That 70's Show or any of it's characters.

Well, thank you guys so much for reading this thing and leaving wonderful reviews, I love you all so much, so thank you. I hope you have a stellar day and let's get onto the chapter, I hope you enjoy.

September 11, 2001

Tap, tap, tap!

Chris heard the quiet tapping on glass early that morning. He cracked open his tired eyes and looked around his dark room. He furrowed his brow and looked over at his alarm clock. It wasn't even six yet. Chris scratched the back of his head and flinched when the tapping started again.

He looked across at his window and saw his newly announced girlfriend outside the window, tapping on it with a mischievous smile on her face.

Chris furrowed his brow further and pushed the covers off of him and quietly got out of bed before he stumbled over to the locked window, rubbing the sleep from his eye.

He reached down and unlocked the window before sliding it open and giving Callie a sleepy glare, "What are you doing here? Did you get into an argument with your mom again?"

Callie smiled and shook her head, "Nope. I'm here to pick you up, we're going on a date."

Chris raised an eyebrow, "A—Callie, it's five thirty in the morning. Where could we possibly go?"

Callie gave Chris a look, the smile still present, "You know exactly where."

Chris sighed and rolled his eyes, "Why can't we go on 'a date' when I'm not trying to sleep?"

Callie leaned her elbows on the windowsill and looked up at Chris sweetly, "Because, it's so much more fun when we have to sneak around."

Chris was still confused, "Why do we have to sneak around?"

"Because we're skipping school today," Callie smiled, "I'm going to teach you how to be a real teenager and be a little rebellious."

"I'm not skipping school," Chris replied seriously, obviously irritated by Callie at the moment.

"Come on, Chris," Callie begged, "You never do anything bad. Why won't you just lighten up?"

Chris gave Callie an offended sort of look, "I can be rebellious."

Callie raised an eyebrow and gave him an unbelieving look, "Really? What have you ever done that's rebellious?"

Chris was silent. Callie smiled in a way that meant she told him so, "Okay, fine! So I don't skip school, sue me!"

Callie snickered, "Come on, Chris. Just one day. It's the beginning of the school year, there's no major testing yet. I think you can skip one day and be just fine."

Chris sighed, "Fine. But only if you buy me breakfast."

Callie smiled, "It's a done deal."

Chris smirked and raised a finger, "And give me a kiss?"

"Don't push it," Callie replied, but she was smiling.

Chris smiled back and turned away from Callie, "Give me second to find a shirt."

Callie didn't even realize he was shirtless. She tried to hide her blush and tried not to look at him as he searched for a shirt to wear. It was kind of hard to look away though. He was lean, but he didn't have any defined muscles, but you could tell he had some strength to him. You could also still see scars on his body, which only made Callie angry, but she tried not to think about it.

After a minute, Chris returned to the window wearing a black button up shirt and a greenish blue jacket over it, his glasses resting loosely on the end of his nose.

Callie smiled up at him and used her finger to push his glasses up the bridge of his nose so he could actually see through them. Chris smiled down at Callie as she stepped back and he climbed through the window, closing it behind him.

After he was out on the fire escape Callie looked up at him and asked, "Did you leave a note?"

Chris shook his head, "No, but I told them yesterday I had an art project due Friday, maybe they'll think I just left early to go work on that?"

Callie nodded, "Okay, sounds good."

"What about you? Did you leave a note for your mom?" Chris asked, fixing his glasses already.

Callie shook her head, "No, but I get in trouble all the time. I'm sure mom will just take away my game boy or something, it'll pass over in a week."

Chris nodded, "That sounds about right."

"Besides, she has a meeting or something today, she probably won't even notice I'm gone," Callie said.

Chris shrugged and nodded before looking down at Callie.

Callie smiled, looking up at Chris before grabbing his hand and standing on her tip toes to give him a kiss. He was taken off guard and a little surprised, but when she pulled away he smiled and blushed as he looked away and giggled like a school girl.

Callie giggled as well. Every time she did something sort of romantic he did this. She thought it was cute. Callie tightened her grip on Chris's hand and down the fire escape they went.

0-0-0-0-0

Callie and Chris got to their place in the park a little bit after six o'clock that morning. They both stood atop the rock and looked across the water at the World Trade Center. It was really pretty from over here.

The two sat on the rock and looked at the beautiful scenery before them as Callie spoke, "How's Eric been?"

Chris tensed up a little and looked down at his hands in his lap, "Um… Better, I think. He had a panic attack a couple days ago, but I think that was just stress. He seems happy lately, actually."

Callie smiled, "Well, that's good."

Chris nodded and smiled a little, "Yeah."

Callie smiled smugly, "You think it's got anything to do with Jackie?"

Chris nodded and looked over at Callie, "Yeah. I've actually been meaning to tell you something…"

Callie looked up at Chris and raised an eyebrow, "She's not pregnant is she?"

Chris furrowed his brow, "What? No. No, that's not it," He said before smiling again, "Eric told me last night that she asked him to marry her a couple of weeks ago."

Callie raised her eyebrows and gaped, "What?! What did he say? Did he say yes?"

Chris smiled brighter, "Yep."

Callie smiled a bright, wide smile, "Oh my God! That's amazing!"

Chris nodded his head in agreement, "I know. They want to get married in the spring. April probably."

Callie relaxed her shoulders and sighed contently, "This is so cool. Oh, I can't wait now!"

Chris chuckled at Callie's reaction and looked down at her hand. He wanted to hold it but was afraid she'd reject him. He doesn't know why he thinks that would happen, they're boyfriend and girlfriend now. He just wasn't used to it, maybe.

So the two just sat there together for the next hour or so, just talking about random little things. Eventually, the school buses started running and you could see kids with backpacks walking through the park.

It was at this time Callie decided it was time for breakfast.

"Come Chris, let's go back into town, I'm getting kind of hungry," Callie remarked, standing and grabbing Chris's hand, pulling him up along with her.

Chris nodded as he stood and brushed his pants off of dirt, "Where do you want to eat?"

Callie shrugged, "I'm sure we'll find something."

Callie then tugged Chris down the rock and they wandered over to the path before they crossed back over the bridge back into Manhattan.

0-0-0-0-0

"I heard this place has pretty good waffles," Callie said, folding her hands in her lap as she watched Chris cross his legs, then she giggled, "You look like a little kid."

Chris raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"You always sit like that, no matter where it is," Callie smiled. There was some weird things she liked about him, "It's cute for some reason."

Chris smiled and blushed a little, "Thanks?"

Callie giggled again, "Don't mention it."

Chris then looked down at his menu and started debating what he should have for breakfast. Callie had already decided what she wanted, waffles, scrambled eggs and bacon. So as Chris decided what he wanted, Callie looked out the window.

It was a little past seven-thirty now. Callie knew she and Chris would be tired tonight, they never got up this early, but it was kind of fun taking a day off every now and again.

Callie watched as people walked down the streets, people of so many different backgrounds. That's what she loved about New York, it was very cultural. Chris lived in a part of town where there were a lot of Italian's, he was one of them. Callie lived a few blocks away and in her building there a lot of Hispanic people, and a lot of them spoke Spanish and only Spanish. Jackie lived in a building with mostly European's. Her neighbor was American but his parents were Polish immigrants, and her other neighbor was from Ireland. He was tall and charming and he wore glasses. He was an English professor at a nearby university. Callie had a childish crush on him, but that was all.

Callie had one neighbor she disliked and her name was Noemi. She was the only Italian-American in the building and she thought it was funny to harass Callie as she left for school in the mornings. This girl was brutal and sometimes she actually did hurt Callie's feelings, but Callie tried to ignore her and decided against telling Chris, knowing how protective he could be.

Callie sighed as she looked out the window and spotted a familiar face. Speaking of annoying Italian's.

"I'll be right back, Chris," Callie said, putting a hand on his arm before jumping out of her seat and running to the door.

Chris only nodded in acknowledgment, not even looking up to see what she was up to.

Callie burst out the door and skid to a stop as several people pushed her out of the way, but she fought back against them. She stood in the middle of the sidewalk and waited for the familiar face to recognize her.

She saw him pushing past a much taller man, his face wearing a scowl, "Watch where yer going, man! I've got places ta' be!"

Callie snickered at his attitude and grabbed his arm when he just kept walking. She pulled him over to the wall, out of the way of oncoming traffic and smiled up at him, "How's it going, Casper?"

The slightly older boy looked down at Callie, his face still wearing a scowl, but he lightened up a little when he saw her, "Can ye' believe these people? Disrespectful, I'll tell ye'."

Callie rolled her eyes and tugged on his sleeve, "It's a workday, what'd you expect? Sunshine and lollypops?"

Casper glared down at Callie, "That'd be nice!"

Callie laughed and pulled her new friend towards the door, "Come inside, me and Chris are getting breakfast."

"I've got ta' get ta' school or my 'ol man 'll kill me," Casper replied, trying to fight against her.

"I'm paying," Callie bribed and Casper suddenly smiled smugly.

"You've gotta way with people, Miss Shankar," Casper remarked sarcastically as he was pulled into the diner.

"My last name's Dubashi, Casper," Callie corrected him, even though she knew he was joking.

"Yer buyin' me breakfast, I'll call ye' whateva' ye' want, Miss Dusbashi," Casper mocked as he was pulled over to the counter where Chris was still sitting.

As the two sat down Chris looked over at them and smirked a little, "Hey Casper."

"How's it goin', Chris?" Casper asked as he grabbed Callie's unused menu and started looking for something good to eat.

Callie looked over at Casper and made him look at her, "Now just because I'm paying doesn't mean you need to buy the most expensive thing on the menu."

Casper rolled his eyes, "A'right, I gotcha."

Callie smiled and rolled her eyes before turning back to wait for the waitress to come around. Callie then sat back and relaxed, beginning to enjoy her day off.

0-0-0-0-0

It was nearly eight that morning that both Jackie and Eric were about to head to work. It was Tuesday so Jackie wasn't expecting much business, but Eric had a meeting again today and was a little nervous as he had to present his collage of photos, but Jackie knew he'd do great.

"Wish me good luck?" Eric asked as he fixed his shirt as he prepared to leave, his folder of photos in hand.

Jackie smiled, "You'll do great, Eric. I know it."

Eric smiled back at her. Eric looked a little better than he did a couple weeks ago. He gained a couple pounds, putting him up to about 127 pounds. His goal weight was about 145 pounds, so he was getting there. He wasn't as pale either and he hasn't a grand mal seizure in almost a month, which meant one was coming up, but that was a good thing, because he was having those more often then he should, he's back on track now.

Jackie fixed the collar of Eric's shirt and stood on her tip-toes as she kissed him. He smiled against her lips before they pulled away.

Jackie smoothed his shirt of wrinkles before smiling, "Good luck."

"Thanks," Eric smiled back as they stepped away from each other, "I love you."

Jackie smiled back and watched Eric go towards the door, "I love you, too."

Jackie watched as Eric swung the front door open and prepared to leave, but not before turning around and jokingly blowing Jackie a kiss.

Jackie giggled, "You're a dork."

Eric gave her a look, "You better catch it!"

Jackie smiled and 'caught' his kiss and put it in her pocket, "There, I got it."

Eric smiled sweetly, "Good. I'll see you later."

"See ye'," Jackie smiled and laughed a little as Eric left the apartment, shutting the door firmly behind him.

After he was gone, Jackie sighed and decided she should probably go find her purse and keys. She did her morning routine before work by brushing her teeth, double checking her hair, grabbing her purse and finding the keys.

Just as she was about to leave the phone rang. Jackie sighed and went to go pick it up, fearing she'd be late for work depending on this is. She probably should have just ignored it, "Hello?"

"Hi, is this Chris Cuomo's guardian?" The person on the other end asked.

Jackie furrowed her brow before she lied, "Yes. Is he okay?"

"As far as we know, we were just calling to ask if he's feeling sick or anything of the sort. He didn't show up to school today," The man said, sounding genuinely concerned, and he should be. It was unlike Chris to just miss school.

Jackie furrowed her brow further before saying, "Um, just one second."

Jackie placed the phone down on the table and went down the hall to go to Chris's room. She opened the door and peered inside, "Chris? Are you in here?"

She looked around the room. His bed was empty and unmade, as usual, but there was no sign of Chris. Jackie sighed nervously and went back to the phone, picking it up, "He's not in his room. Are you sure he didn't turn up for school today?"

"Yes, his first class just started and he's not there," The man replied, "And we've checked the art room, which is where he usually would be, but he's not there either."

Jackie was a little concerned now.

"What's going on?" A sleepy voice suddenly spoke.

Jackie looked up and saw Chris's mom standing before her, her arms crossed over her chest, her pink bathrobe dragging across the floor.

Jackie ignored her and went back to talking to the man on the phone as a thought popped into her head, "Um, he probably went to the park and he's running a little late, I'll go get him. Don't worry, I'm sure he's fine."

The man on the other end sounded unsure, but agreed and after telling Jackie to have a nice day he hung up. Jackie ended the call and set the phone back down.

"Is everything alright?" Barbara asked, causing Jackie to remember she wasn't alone in the room.

Jackie turned to look at Chris's mother. Barbara's eyes were barely opened and under them were dark circles, she was really thin and sickly, probably a result of the drugs she uses on a regular basis.

"Chris didn't show up for school today," Jackie said, grabbing her purse and keys off the table.

Barbara furrowed her brow and rubbed her eye sleepily, "What? That's not like him."

Jackie nodded, "Yeah, I know," Jackie started towards the door, "I'll find him, I'm sure he's fine. He's probably with Callie."

Barbara nodded, "Well, okay… Just… Make sure he's okay, alright?"

Jackie sent Barbara a reassuring look and nodded, "Don't worry, I'm sure Chris is perfectly fine."

And with that, Jackie went out the door, leaving Barbara in the apartment all by herself.

0-0-0-0-0

"Thanks fer breakfast, Callie," Casper smiled as the three left the diner, Casper patting his full belly, "It was delicious."

"No problem," Callie replied, smiling as she watched Chris mess with his video camera lens, "Chris you've been fiddling with that thing all morning, would you give it a rest?"

Chris furrowed his brow and pursed his lips as he twisted the lens, "Sorry, nervous habit, I guess."

Callie rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand, Chris holding his video camera in his other hand, "Come on, let's go do something else."

"What's the plan, anyway?" Casper asked, skipping along behind Chris and Callie, "We just gonna wander 'round all day or what?"

The three stopped in the middle of the sidewalk as Chris turned his camera on and pointed it up towards the sky, holding it up to his eye so he could get a clear view.

"I don't know, what do you want to do?" Callie asked as Chris became distracted.

Casper shrugged, "There's a new skate park in Brooklyn, we could go there?"

Callie gave Casper a look, "I don't know how to skate. And neither does Chris."

"Yeah I do," Chris suddenly said as he continued looking up at the sky.

Both Callie and Casper looked at Chris, both of them surprised, "Ye' do?" Casper asked in shock.

Chris adjusted the zoom in his camera before nodding, "Yeah, Eric taught me when I was little. He used to take me to the skate park in Queens. You know, the really nice one?"

"What do ye' know, we learn somethin' new every day," Casper smiled, looking up at the sky where Chris was looking.

Callie was about to speak when something cut her off, "Callie! Chris!"

All three of the teenagers looked around and saw a very angry Jackie Burkhart storming towards them, "Uh-oh," Callie said, all the kids become very stiff, awaiting what Jackie had to say.

"I've been all the way across town looking for you," Jackie snapped.

"Did you check the park in Staten Island?" Callie asked sarcastically.

Jackie pointed a stern finger at Callie, "I'm not in the mood for your smart ass attitude right now, Callie. I'm late for work and you two need to go to school," Jackie then looked at Casper who was awkwardly standing next to Callie, his face pale and his eyes wide, "Who are you?"

Casper held his hand out, "I'm Casper."

Callie looked down at the boy's hand, almost in disgust. He was greasy looking, as if he never showered but he reeked of cologne, "Casper? Aren't you the kid that Chris beat up?"

Casper dropped his hand and scowled, "Hey, I landed a few punches in there myself, thank ye' very much."

"He's our friend now," Callie said, wrapping an arm around Casper and smiling charmingly.

"That's great and all, but you two still need to get to school," Jackie snapped, looking down at her watch very impatiently, "I'm sure your parents would like that very much as well, Casper. So, let's go."

Jackie grabbed both Callie and Casper and pushed them ahead of her and then she looked back at Chris, who was still pointing his camera up at the sky.

"Chris, let's go," Jackie said, reaching to grab him.

"Does that plane seem a little low to you?" Chris suddenly asked, making sure it wasn't just his zoom, but his zoom was all the way out.

Jackie, Callie and Casper all looked up towards the sky and see a passenger plane a little lower than it should be.

They watched as it flew through the sky and in a split second it crashed into the higher floors of the World Trade Center. The ground seemed to shake as it happened and they watched a huge ball of fire fly out of the impact zone.

"Holy shit!" Casper yelled, staring up at the crash zone in awe.

Chris dropped his camera and covered his ears, causing Callie and Jackie to look at him in alarm. Jackie reached down and picked up his camera as Callie stood in front of Chris.

"Hey, it's alright," Callie soothed, grabbing Chris's wrists and pulling his hands away from his ears. When he could hear again the world around him was filled people screaming, people swearing, and people getting out of their cars to see what happened.

Chris looked around for a moment, taking in everything before he looked up at the North Tower which was ablaze.

"Jackie?" Chris suddenly asked as Jackie dusted off Chris's camera, making sure it wasn't broken.

"Yeah?" Jackie asked, a little out of it as she peered up at the North Tower.

"Where was Eric's presentation today?" Chris asked, unable to tear his eyes away from the tower.

"It was—" Jackie suddenly stopped talking as she gazed up at the tower and felt tears threaten her eyes, "Oh God no!"

Casper spun around when he the commotion and cast the group a concerned look, "What happened?"

Callie looked over at Jackie as she visibly shook, her knees becoming weak, and then she looked over at Chris, who also looked as if he were going to cry.

"Jackie," Callie said, stepping over to the crying woman, "Did Eric ever say which floor the meeting was on?"

Jackie sniffled and nodded, not being able to stop the tears from flowing from her eyes, "Y-yeah, he wrote it down… I can't remember, though. It was in fifties I think."

Callie nodded and looked up at the building, "Well, that's well below the crash, see? That's at least thirty floors below it. He's okay, I'm sure of it. Eric's a tough guy, he'll be fine. Don't worry."

Jackie tried to believe Callie, she really did, but it was just hard since she didn't know exactly which floor Eric was on, she just guessed. She was sure it was in the fifties but she wasn't one hundred percent sure.

"Callie, I thought your mom had a meeting or something today?" Chris asked, grabbing his camera from Jackie's hands and pointing it back up at the building, trying to get a clear view of it as smoke poured out from the giant gaping hole in the side of the building.

Callie nodded, "She did, it was in the South Tower. She had to sign papers or something so she could purchase a building in Soho to open another record shop."

"Oh, alright," Chris said, zooming into the blast zone.

At this moment, the group only thought of this as a horrible plane crash and nothing else.

"Are you kids alright?" Jackie suddenly broke the tense silence, trying to pull herself together.

Callie nodded along with Casper as Chris continued filming the event as it happened. Jackie grabbed Chris's sleeve and pulled on it, trying to get his attention, "Chris, are you alright?"

Chris looked down at Jackie and nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine," Then he went back to filming.

Jackie sighed and looked down at the kids and then up at the building. They all just stood there for a long time, none of them keeping track of the time. There were people around them all doing the same thing. Some people were talking to each other, some were cursing, some were crying, and some were in shock.

"Did ye' see that?" Casper suddenly spoke as a man walked over to them, standing beside Casper. He was a round man with a baby face, but you could tell he was older, probably a little older than Eric and Jackie.

"I heard it!" The man replied, looking around at Jackie, Callie and Chris, who was still filming, "It's a shame man, there's people that are up there dead. I just came from that buildin' a half an hour ago. Half an hour ago, I was on the forty-third floor."

"Damn…" Casper said under his breath, putting a hand across his mouth, looking on at the grim scene.

"Ye' think it could be terrorists?" Casper suddenly asked, garnering the attention of everybody there except Chris, who was off in his own little world.

"It could be terrorists. Ye' never know," The man replied, looking back up at the building, "But I don't think so… I heard the impact and I looked out my window and saw these papa's flyin' 'round everywhere and I thought that was weird, and then I looked up and saw that and, and I couldn't believe my eyes!"

"I didn't see it come out the utta' end, ye' think it's just sittin' in there, or… Maybe it turned to ash or somethin'?" Casper suggested.

Chris shook his head, "No, it's probably still in there. It's probably just broken apart."

"So many people were up there," Jackie said, covering her mouth, trying not to think of Eric being up there.

Chris looked down at his watch, "Well, it's not quite nine o'clock, maybe not everybody's up there yet?"

"Yeah, that's a good point," Callie said, crossing her arms over her chest.

The group then stood there in silence for another few minutes, all of them in shock and awe at the sight before them. Chris zoomed out a little bit to view both towers when there was suddenly an explosion in the other building, creating a loud noise and causing the ground to shake.

"Another one?!" Casper cried, "What was that?!"

Chris dropped his arms by his sides, still holding his camera, not bothering to cover his ears this time, even if he really wanted to. He watched as another fire ball, maybe larger than the last, exploded around the side of the South Tower.

He heard Jackie scream out and saw her fall to her knees out the corner of his eye, he then heard her start sobbing.

"Oh God!" Jackie cried, sobbing loudly as she started to jumble all her words together.

Chris couldn't tear his eyes away from the flaming towers, the towers he always loved. The towers Eric used to take him to the park to watch when he was little, the towers he went to see every day, the towers he took Callie to see every day at their spot in the park. Both of them up in flames, the two things he loved most about this city was the view of those two towers, the city that would never be the same without them.

"Chris! Can you hear me?! Chris!" Suddenly he broke out of his trance and looked down to see Casper yelling at him and pulling on his arm.

"Huh?" Chris asked, a little in shock, his eyes expressionless.

"Callie! She's upset!" Casper cried, pointing down at Callie, who was on her knees in tears.

Chris tore his eyes away from Casper and looked down at Callie, everything around him suddenly seeming not so muffled. His breath hitched in his throat and he suddenly handed his camera to Casper and dashed over to Callie's side.

Chris kneeled down in front of Callie and forced himself to look her in the eye as he grabbed her hands, "Callie? Are you okay? Callie?"

Callie was sobbing horribly as she pulled one her hands out of Chris's and pointed up at the South Tower, "My mom was on the seventy-third floor!"

Chris looked up at the tower and fought the tears in his eyes, wanting to be the strong one here. Both Jackie and Callie were in shambles, and Casper didn't seem to stable either. Chris tore his eyes away from the towers once more and grabbed Callie's hands again.

"Callie, look at me!" Chris cried. He felt a little weird, it was usually her telling him to do that, "Callie!"

Callie looked up at Chris, tears like a never ending stream as Chris went on, "Your mom is fine, I promise you! No one's tougher than your mom, and you know that! I know you're scared and worried about her, I'm worried about Eric, but we can't just sit on the street! We have to keep moving, we can't be down here this close to the towers! I already see police up ahead telling people to leave, so come on! You have to get up!"

Chris stood, pulling Callie up with him and as soon as they were standing Callie buried her face in Chris's chest, wrapping her arms around his center. Chris has never seen Callie cry before. She was always so tough and never let anything bother her. She was usually his shoulder to cry on, not the other way around.

Chris wrapped his arms around Callie, trying to comfort her as she left tear stains on his shirt. Chris looked over his shoulder at the smoldering twin towers and felt his eyes burn with unshed tears. This was the worst thing he has ever witnessed in his entire life, and he was sure there was nothing else that would ever scar him like this is now.

Chris looked back over towards his group and saw Jackie on the ground crying still and Casper filming the towers on Chris's camera, still talking to that middle aged man.

"There's a guy up there, in the North Towa'," Casper said, using the zoom, "He's wavin' a towel or somethin' out the window."

"That second explosion, I just saw it on the news in the shop window, it was anudda plane!" The middle-aged man said.

"No…" Callie sobbed quietly, as if she couldn't believe it.

"Get outta here!" Casper cried, looking over at the man behind him, unbelieving, "Yer tellin' me two planes hit the buildin's?"

"Two planes!" The man nodded, holding up to fingers.

"It's terrorists," Chris said, which made Callie and Jackie sob harder. Chris tightened his arms around Callie as she kept her face buried in his shirt.

"Yeah, it's terrorist's a'right," Casper said, fixing the zoom on the camera again, "No doubt. No doubt…"

"Casper," Chris called, trying to garner the attention of the distracted and in shock boy.

Casper looked away from the buildings and looked towards Chris, "Can you come here for a minute?"

Casper looked down at the camera in his hand and turned it off before stepping over to Chris, wondering what it was he wanted.

"I've got to check on Jackie, can you…?" He trailed, tilting his head down to Callie.

Casper nodded and Chris had to forcefully remove Callie from his body, "Callie, I've got get to Jackie, okay? Casper's right here, alright?"

Callie nodded and tried to stop crying, wiping her eyes of tears. Chris finally released Callie and stepped around to go over to Jackie. Callie stood there by herself for only a moment before Casper put a hand on her shoulder, unsure of what he was supposed to do at this point.

"Hey, ye' a'right?" Casper asked, squeezing her shoulder reassuringly.

Callie nodded, but they both knew that was a lie. Suddenly Callie wrapped Casper in a hug, which surprised him and he didn't know how to react. His arms were out behind her back, neither of them wrapping around her to offer comfort, "Um…"

"Just hold me, Casper," Callie ordered, her voice coated with bitterness, which Casper could understand. Her mother was in one of those blazing building over there.

Casper wrapped his arms firmly around Callie and relaxed into the hug, resting his cheek on the top of her head as she resumed crying.

"Jackie?" Chris spoke as he knelt down beside Jackie, "Are you alright?"

Jackie looked up at Chris, her face red as tears streamed down her cheeks, "Do I look alright, Chris?! My fiancé's in one of those towers and—" She stopped abruptly to resume sobbing, "I'm sorry… What am I saying? Your dad's in one of those towers. You must be feeling horrible right now."

Chris grabbed Jackie's arm, "Don't worry about me, I'm fine. We need to get moving though, okay? We should probably head home, it's safer there."

Jackie nodded in agreement, "Yeah," She sniffed, "You're right. It probably is… Come on, help me up."

Chris helped Jackie stand. After she was stood she brushed herself off and looked towards Casper and Callie, "Come on guys, let's go. Let's get somewhere safe."

Callie and Casper slowly peeled apart and Callie wiped her eyes of tears, even though they kept coming as she started to follow a still crying Jackie down the sidewalk, away from the towers.

They only got a few steps away when a woman cried, "Bush is on the TV makin' an address!"

Casper took off to go look into the shop window and saw the president standing behind a podium, his expression solemn, his knuckles white as he gripped the sides of the podium, his eyes showing nothing short of fear, anger and sadness.

"Today, we've had a national tragedy," He started solemnly, "Two airplanes have crashed into the World Trade Center in an apparent terrorist attack on our country," People standing around the shop window started chattering about this statement as the president continued, "I have spoken to the Vice President, to the Governor of New York, to the Director of the FBI, and I've ordered that the full resources of the federal government go to help the victims and their families and to conduct a full scale investigation to hunt down and to find those folks that committed this act. Terrorism against our nation will not stand. And now, if you'll join me in a moment of silence…"

Everybody around the TV got quiet but no one bowed their head, they just looked at the TV in shock as the other TV's began to play something else.

"May God bless the victims, their families, and America, thank you very much," The president said as he gathered up some papers on top of the podium and walked down, the people in the room with him clapping as he exited the room with secret service men and several other political figures.

Everyone just stood there in shock as this was officially confirmed as a terrorist attack. Everybody already assumed that it was, but hearing it come from the president's mouth was a whole other deal.

The TV went on the play the news which was showing the same exact thing that they could see if they just looked up.

Jackie's head was spinning with so many different thoughts. Was Donna okay? Was Eric okay? Were the people above the crash sights okay? What about below them? What about their families? Would any of those people be rescued? Would Eric and Donna be rescued? Eric couldn't die, they just got engaged and he's been through so much. This couldn't happen to him, not now, not after everything life's thrown at him. Jackie had so much more to tell him, she couldn't comprehend the fact that he could possibly die in that tower, this all just seemed so unreal.

"We need ta' get outta here," Casper said, but his eyes never looked away from the TV, where you could see a closer view of the World Trade Center as smoke poured out from it.

Chris was also looking at the TV as he held Callie under his arm, holding her close as her arms wrapped around his waist, her head resting on his chest as she too looked at the TV.

"We've got some more breaking news," The news anchor suddenly said, making everybody turn towards the TV again, all of them wondering how this could possibly get worse, "A commercial airplane has just crashed into the Pentagon, I repeat, a commercial airplane has just crashed into the Pentagon. Just when I thought this day couldn't get any worse, folks… Jesus Christ…"

Everybody around the TV let out gasps of shock. Callie started crying again and Chris held her tighter as Casper watched in shock. Jackie couldn't cry anymore, it was like her body wouldn't allow it. She was in shock now.

There was no way this could get worse. At least, that's what they thought.

Jackie didn't know what to do. She could take the kids to her place, but even then she didn't think it was safe. Was anywhere safe anymore? The very country they thought would always protect them and keep them out of harm's way has been attacked and the terrorists that did it made it look so easy. That's what really scared Jackie.

Chris rubbed Callie's back, trying to comfort the crying girl as best as he could. Jackie continued to stand on the sidewalk in shock, the only movement she was doing was her heavy breathing and her trembling body. Casper walked into the street, holding Chris's camera and pointing it up the towers again. He zoomed in but when he saw what he saw he immediately took the camera away from his eye and watched the scene unfold with his own eyes.

"Holy shit…" He said under his breath, his face showing nothing but horror, "There's people jumpin' out of the buildin's!"

Chris and Callie turned to look at him and then up at the towers. Chris thought those things falling from the towers was just debris, but no, those were people.

"Jesus…" Chris muttered as Callie hid her face in his shirt, Chris wrapping both his arms around her shoulders, as if it would keep her out of harm's way.

Chris couldn't tear his eyes away from the towers as he watched the tiny specs fall to the ground. Casper was pale, his body had started to tremble.

"They're jumpin' to their fuckin' deaths…" He said to himself a little too loudly, throwing his hands up, "Why the hell would they do that?!"

"Casper…" Chris suddenly said, looking over at his friend.

Casper tore his eyes away from the building finally and looked over at Chris, who was giving him a sympathetic look.

"How bad does it have to be up there for those people to decide to jump rather than stay in the building?" Callie sobbed at that horrific thought.

Casper looked down at the girl and then up at Chris again as Chris spoke, "The people above the fire aren't going to be able to get out."

Callie cried harder as Casper sent Chris an incredulous, almost angry look, "How do you know that?! Huh?!"

Chris gazed softly at Casper, "The planes destroyed parts of the towers, I'm assuming it also destroyed the stairwells and elevators."

Casper suddenly peeled his eyes away and put a hand to his stomach. Chris cast him a funny look as he raised an eyebrow, "Casper? Are you alright?"

Casper stumbled forward, slapping the camera into Chris's hand, "I think I'm gonna be sick."

Casper then stepped into the alley between the shop and small diner and threw up all over the trash bags by the dumpster.

Jackie came back to reality a little bit when she heard the commotion behind her. She turned around and saw Chris and Callie enveloped in each other's arms and Casper hunched over throwing up into the alley.

Jackie stepped forward a little bit and put a hand on the teenager's back, trying to sooth him as he emptied his stomach of the breakfast he ate a little over an hour ago.

Callie and Chris had to move out of street when they heard the sirens of a firetruck and police car. They moved onto the sidewalk and watched as the two vehicles stormed past them at lightning speed.

Everybody around them were either watching the news, on the phone, or listening to the radio.

"I jus' heard there was anudda highjacked plane," A woman on the street said, "A 757 I think it said. It flew outta San Francisco."

"Anudda one?!" Casper cried, still hunched over before he spit on the ground, trying to rid the foul taste from his mouth, "Has it crashed yet?"

The woman shook her head, looking over at Casper briefly, "No, it's still in the air. They're thinkin' it might go for D.C. Either the White House or The Capital Buildin'."

"Jesus fuckin' Christ…" Casper spat on the ground again, "The world's gone insane."

"Ye' got that right," The woman said, looking back up at the burning twin towers.

Jackie rested her hand on Casper's back and looked down at him, "Are you okay?"

Casper looked over his shoulder at Jackie and nodded, spitting again, "Yeah, I'll be fine."

Jackie nodded and looked around the small crowd of people around them, all of their attention focused on the horrific scene before them.

"Does anybody have a cell phone? Anybody?" Jackie asked, looking around frantically.

"'Ere ye' go," A woman with a pager in her hand suddenly spoke, handing Jackie her phone.

Jackie quickly and quietly thanked her before flipping the phone open and starting to dial Eric's house phone. She was hoping Barbara had stayed up long enough to at least flip on the TV, she just wanted to let her know Chris was alright, even if Barbara didn't care.

Jackie held the phone up to her ear and let it ring, waiting and praying Barb would answer. It was actually very quickly that the phone was picked up and Jackie heard Barb's frantic voice on the other end.

"Hello? Chris? Is that you, baby?" She asked, sounding very anxious and worried.

Jackie underestimated her.

"No, it's Jackie," Jackie said, her voice weak.

"Jackie! Is Chris there? Is he safe?" Barb asked, Jackie could hear her fumble with the phone.

"Yes, Chris is here, he's safe," Jackie assured the boy's mother.

She heard Barb sigh on the other end, relieved, "Oh, thank God… What about Callie? Is she alright? Lord knows that girl means so much to him."

Jackie was surprised at how concerned Barb actually was, but she nodded and replied with, "Yes, Callie's fine. They're both here with a friend."

"Thank goodness…" She said, "Tell them to come home. Please. I need him home."

Jackie nodded, "Okay, I'll—"

"Oh my God!" A woman's scream suddenly pierced Jackie's ears.

Jackie turned to look around, to see what was going on, "Run!" A man suddenly yelled and Jackie now saw why. The South Tower was falling down.

Jackie dropped the phone on the pavement and watched it crumble and fall in shock. It's like it just turned to dust.

"Come on!" Her hand was suddenly grabbed by someone else's and the next thing she knew she was being pulled down the street as they ran from the cloud of dust that zoomed towards them at an alarming rate.

Jackie looked ahead, finally coming out of her shock and saw it was Casper who was dragging her along and Chris and Callie were a little bit ahead of them, both of them looking back every now and again to see how close the dust cloud was to them.

They ran for only a few minutes before the dust caught up with them, it was amazing how fast it travelled.

All Jackie could think about in that moment was Barbara, Kitty and Red. The parents. Barbara had the TV on back at the apartment, she probably just watched the tower fall. Jackie never hung up on her either, she just dropped the phone. Barbara's probably crying, thinking they've all just been crushed by the falling debris.

And Kitty and Red. Jackie knew they knew what was going on. They've probably called and left so many messages, trying to find out if Eric was okay and if Donna, Jackie and the kids were as well. Jackie didn't know if Donna was okay, or if Eric was, or even if she and the kids would be.

It was getting hard to see anybody now, it was also hard to hear and breathe. The cloud of dust was overwhelming every sense.

It was only a moment later that Jackie couldn't see anything and panic started to make itself known.

"Chris?! Callie?! Casper?!" She called all the kid's names, worried for each of them.

She was winded, she couldn't breathe. The dust was in her lungs, she didn't know what to do, and panicking didn't help matters any.

"Kids?!"

"Over here!" Callie's small, weak voice suddenly called before Jackie heard coughing.

Jackie stumbled forward, reaching her hands out trying to find the girl. She heard Callie calling for Chris, her voice cracking, she was starting to panic. She was worried she'd lost Chris.

"Chris?! Where are you?!" Callie cried, stumbling around in the thick grey fog.

"Callie!" Jackie cried again, Callie's shouting louder than before, meaning she was getting close, "Callie!"

Then she ran into somebody, "Callie?"

Jackie looked down and saw the form a smaller person and the person grabbed her hands and squeezed them, "It's me, Jackie," Callie said, "Where's Chris? Is he with you? And what about Casper? Where's Casper?"

"We'll find them," Jackie coughed, "But we have to hurry, we've got to get out of this dust."

Callie nodded as Jackie squeezed her hands, "Just don't let go of my hand, okay? Hold on tight."

Callie nodded, "Okay."

Callie hadn't even comprehended what had happened yet, none of them had. Callie felt pain in her body, but she didn't know why. She doesn't remember falling down or anything. Was she hit by something? She doesn't remember. So why did she hurt?

"Chris! Casper!" Jackie cried, and Callie joined in. They both prayed they found them.

Callie heard pained groaning coming from nearby, "Chris?! Casper?! Are you okay?!"

The girls followed the sound of the groaning and almost tripped over the form on the ground when they found them.

"Who's there?" Jackie asked.

"It's me, Casper…" Casper groaned, his voice weak. He sounded in pain.

"Are you alright?" Jackie asked, reaching down to find his hand.

"My legs hurt… Real bad…" He groaned, sounding as if he were going to cry.

"They're not broken, are they?" Jackie asked, praying they weren't.

"Nah, it's a different kinda pain…" The boy groaned again, "It still fuckin' hurts though…"

Jackie reached down and found the boy's hand, "Power through it, we got to move fast."

The dust cloud was getting thicker, they needed to go as fast as they could.

Callie was crying now, "Where's Chris?"

Jackie squeezed her hand, "We'll find him, Callie," Jackie almost didn't believe her own words.

Jackie made Casper grab Callie's hand as they made their way through the fog, "Chris!" They all started yelling, though Casper cussed more than anything, the pain in his legs almost unbearable.

"Please be okay, Chris…" Callie pleaded, praying silently.

"Chris!" Jackie yelled again and thank God he responded.

"Over here!" Chris yelled and Jackie could hear footsteps and also groans of pain, but not as bad as Casper's.

"Chris!" Callie cried in relief.

They kept calling for each other until they found each other, "Thank God you're okay!" Callie cried, tears still falling from her eyes, but in sweet relief now.

"We can hug it out later guys, we need to find a way out of this mess," Jackie suddenly spoke, "Chris, find Casper's hand and hold on tight, I'm leading us out of here."

Chris and Casper fumbled around for a short few seconds before they grabbed ahold of each other's hands. Jackie checked to make sure everybody was still present before she started moving forward. She tried looking through the dust, moving away from the darker colored dust and towards the light, trying to find and alley or street or something where you could see.

They all wandered around aimlessly for a good five minutes and only found the light just in time. They were all coughing, having a hard time breathing. They had covered their mouths and noses with their shirts to try and keep the dust out, but it was still hard to breathe.

Jackie found a street where there was still dust, but it was thinner and you could see clearly. Or more clearly anyway. Jackie sighed in relief and coughed again before turning around to make sure everybody was still with her. They were, but they didn't look the same as they did ten minutes ago.

They were all covered in soot. From head to toe soot was all you saw.

Callie also had blood on her face all coming from a cut on the top of her head somewhere, probably near her hairline. Her arms were also cut up as were her legs. She must of fallen or something. She looked around in shock, her brown eyes wide as tears brewed in them.

Casper had some scrapes on his arms a cut on his face, but there wasn't a lot of blood, only a little bit. Jackie looked down at his legs which he was complaining about just minutes before. They seemed to be burned. Horribly. Jackie doesn't know how that would've happened, but nothing made sense today anyway.

Jackie then looked over at Chris. He had a cut above his eye, it leaked blood down around his eye and nose, some of it trickling down his cheek. He also had a tear in the leg of his pants, but it was only a rip, no blood or scar. The thing that concerned Jackie was the way he was holding his arm. He held it in his right hand, cradling it, as if he had hurt it.

Jackie then looked down at herself. There was no blood, only soot.

How did something like this happen? And why did it happen so easily?

"Come on, guys," Jackie said, waving her hand in the other direction, "Let's get away from this. We need to get somewhere a little safer."

Jackie grabbed ahold of Callie's hand in one hand and Chris's in the other, Callie grabbing Casper's hand and dragging him a long beside her.

Jackie and the kids walked for what seemed like forever. Jackie was trying to find somewhere where they could go and breathe easier, but this proved to be a difficult task.

They turned left up another street up ahead a little ways and all they saw was everything covered in soot. Everything was grey. The streets, the buildings, the cars, the people. Everything.

Jackie saw people on their phones, trying to call their loved ones, a lot of them crying. Callie being one of them. Her mother was in the South Tower and nobody knew if she made it out.

The tears steamed from Callie's eyes, creating lines on her face, washing the soot away from her cheeks. Callie wrapped her arms around Chris and held him tightly to her, sobbing into his chest.

"I'm so glad you're okay," Callie sobbed. She didn't know what she would do without him now. She'd be lost.

Jackie tried finding her breath as she looked down at Casper who was now sitting on the sidewalk, tears pouring from his eyes as well as he groaned in pain.

Jackie stepped over to him and kneeled down in front of him, grabbing his hands, "Casper, we're going to find a hospital, okay? We'll make sure you're okay. We'll all be fine."

Casper glared at Jackie, looking extremely pissed off, "No we won't! The fuckin' World Trade Centa' jus' collapsed and ye' think we're gonna be okay? Lower Manhattan is covered in ash! From the tower, the plane that destroyed it and the people that died inside of it! Do ye' know how many people work in those buildin's? Thousands! Thousands of people jus' died and nobody can begin ta' undastand why!"

Casper then broke down into sobs, tilting his head down so nobody saw him cry. Jackie tightened her hold on his hands as Callie and Chris stepped over to the two.

Jackie looked up to look at them and Callie silently told Jackie she could handle this. Callie did know Casper better than she did, Jackie had only met him today and obviously this kid had some issues.

Jackie squeezed Casper's hands once more before she released them and stood, letting Callie sit down next to Casper and look over at him, trying to find the right words to say.

Jackie looked over at Chris, who was wiping the lens of his camera, which he miraculously saved somehow. She saw his face contort in pain as he wiped his camera lens with his injured arm.

"There's a camera store over there," Chris said, pointing to the shop behind him somewhere, "I'm going to go buy some more film."

Jackie thought against it, not wanting to let any of the kids out of her sight, but she could see the film shop from here, so she nodded, "Hurry up. And I mean it."

Chris nodded, "I will. I promise."

Jackie was actually surprised people were still working down this street considering what had just happened. She watched as Chris jogged over to the video store and pushed open the door, disappearing inside.

When Chris entered the building, it was clean. There was a little bit of soot on the floor near the door, but the further you stepped in it was clean.

"Hey! You! I just clean floor! Get out! You get it dirty!" A small Asian woman yelled, glaring at him and pointing at the door.

Chris looked over his shoulder out the window that was covered in dust and looked back at the woman, "Did you see what just happened?"

"Yes! Now get out!" The woman yelled at him, but she stayed behind the desk.

Chris ignored her and approached the desk, "Do you sell digital video tape?"

"Yes," She snapped, glaring at him, very annoyed that he was ignoring her orders for him to get out, "DVD?"

"DV, mini DV?" Chris asked, cleaning the lens of his camera again.

Chris stood there and watched as the woman yelled over her shoulder, yelling somebody's name, "Quan!"

Chris stood there and watched as an older Asian man came into the room, his shoulders hunched as he looked between the woman and Chris.

The woman then started ordering him around in Japanese. The man turned and grabbed a box off the counter behind him and started rummaging through it, looking for Chris's tape.

Chris sighed in exhaustion, the pain in his arm starting to become more intense. His adrenalin was starting to falter and he wasn't so numb anymore, the pain would become unbearable in just a few minutes.

Chris watched as the man behind the woman handed her a small package and smacked the tape onto the counter as Chris asked, "How much?"

"17.99," The woman replied.

Chris pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and pulled about twenty dollars out and handed it to the lady.

As he did that another man with a camera walked in and asked the man working there for some film as well.

"Buyin' film?" The man asked Chris.

Chris nodded as he put his wallet back in his pocket. Chris usually didn't talk to other people and just ignored them, but he felt like his social anxiety went straight out the window after what just happened.

"Yeah… Just in case," Chris replied.

"I heard they highjacked the planes," The man said as he waited for the man behind the counter to get his film, "They got one 767 to Boston, they highjacked it. And they flew it right into the World Trade Center. They said there's some more planes they got."

Chris shook his head and took the film out of his camera, put it in his camera bag and put the new film in.

"I gotta get home, man," The other man said, "My wife's probably nervous as hell. My kids…"

Chris shook his head, "Trains are probably down."

The other man nodded as Chris finished adjusting his camera, "Anybody ye' know up in them towers?"

Chris didn't look up, just kept fiddling with his camera, "Yeah… My girlfriend's mom was in the South Tower…"

The other man then got quiet for a moment and Chris heard him sigh sadly, "Jeez… Sorry 'bout that."

Chris nodded as he felt tears sting his eyes, "My Dad's in the other tower…"

"Oh…" The other man said, slumping his shoulders, "Uh—"

"It's okay, you don't have to say anything," Chris cut him off, "I'm sure he got out. He'll be fine. He was below the crash anyway."

The other man nodded and offered a reassuring smile, "Well, that's good! He prolly got out then!"

Chris nodded, "Yeah, probably…" Chris didn't believe any of that though, it was kind of hard to.

It was always easier to think negatively.

"Well, I better get going," Chris said, "My girlfriend's outside waiting for me, so…"

The other man nodded, "Yeah, well good luck to ye', kid. I hope yer Dad's a'right."

Chris smiled sadly before he turned towards the door, "Yeah, me too…"

0-0-0-0-0

Callie rubbed Casper's back as he cried, his head in his hands, his fingers running through his dark hair that was now coated in white.

"Casper…" Callie said quietly, putting a hand on his leg, just above the burn on his knee.

"I-I… All those people! Just gone! They're all dead!" Casper cried, his words hitting Callie hard, "How could they let this happen?"

Callie fought the tears once more, trying to be strong for her friend who was overwhelmed with pain, sadness and anger.

"I don't know…" Callie responded, her hand still rubbing his back.

Casper sobbed some more. He wanted to wipe his eyes, but it would only hurt him to do so. He was covered in soot and it was sickening to him.

"I'm sorry…" Casper cried, his voice catching in his throat as he let out another sob, "Your mom… Oh God…"

Callie bit down on her lip hard, hoping it would keep her from crying. She bit down so hard her lip started to bleed, but she didn't even feel the pain, her whole body was numb.

"Here comes Chris," Jackie suddenly said, her sentence followed immediately by a cough.

Chris walked back up the group, looking a little more solemn than before, but still hiding behind a strong mask as he spoke, "Somebody over there told me to go that way," Chris said, pointing down the street.

Callie looked down the street and saw several people making their way down there, she then looked back down at Casper and Callie. Callie had her arms over Casper's shoulders and his head was tilted down, tears falling from his eyes as Callie tried comforting him, even though she was broken too.

They shouldn't have to go through this. Kids were meant to be able to get upset, the adults would usually handle everything that was going wrong, but here the kids were, being strong for one another, trying not to let their emotions get the best of things.

Callie was broken, but she tried powering through it. Chris had yet to show any sign of sadness, but eventually it'd over power him and he'd break just as well. Casper's life was already shattered before all of this happened, now it just got worse.

It made Jackie nauseous just thinking about how these kid's lives all just changed in a split second.

Jackie drew in a sharp breath, her throat dry as she spoke, "Alright guys, come on. We need to keep moving."

Callie looked up at Jackie, her eyes sad before she looked back down at Casper, rubbing his arm again before helping him stand.

"We're going this way," Jackie said, pointing down the street that Chris had previously mentioned, "Everybody's going this way," Jackie looked over her shoulder at the other people in the street and yelled, "Come on, everybody's going this way!"

Jackie and the kids started down the street, people around them chattering amongst themselves as they wearily obeyed Jackie's directions.

As they walked, they overheard an older man talking to a girl about the tower that was still ablaze, "There were 60,000 people working in the first tower, can you imagine the second tower collapsed all the people were still probably trying to get out."

Donna was in the second tower. It didn't even burn for an hour. If that one came down, they were all sure the other one would too at some point. Jackie just prayed Donna got out of the South Tower in time and that Eric was already out of the North Tower.

"Do you know what time it happened?" The girl asked the man and he looked down at his watch, spitting on it and clearing it of dust, "The tower collapsed, oh I don't know, maybe ten minutes ago? And the other tower's been on fire for about an hour."

"Well, people must have been evacuated," The girl replied.

"You hope…" The man replied, and the next words really scared everybody, "But evacuating 60,000 people from the Trade Center… I was working there like 10 years ago and the power went out in the downtown area and it took them, like, three hours to evacuate all those people… There's no way you could evacuate all those people in thirty to forty minutes."

Jackie put her hand on Chris's shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly, guiding him and the other kids down the street.

Chris turned on his camera and started filming the scene around him. All you saw were people covered in soot. Some were covered in blood and some were burned.

Casper walked clumsily down the sidewalk, his arm still over Callie's shoulder's as she supported him so he wouldn't fall over. Chris went over to the other side of him and helped Callie carry him as well, holding his camera in his other hand.

Jackie felt the bile rising in her throat as she just started to really take in everything. Callie was covered in blood, her arms and legs all cut up. Casper had horrible burns on his legs and Chris was braving through helping Casper walk, supporting his injured friend with his injured arm.

The group of them walked for a good ten minutes or so before they started to hear people yelling at each other. It wasn't until they turned the corner that they saw ambulances and paramedics scattered all around, helping the wounded.

There was a woman on the sidewalk, trembling in shock as she looked around blankly, the medics asking her questions and spraying water on her, trying to clean the blood off of her skin so they could see exactly where it was all coming from.

There was an older woman on a gurney as the medics gave her oxygen through a pump, two more medics lifting the gurney and carrying her into an ambulance.

And then there was another man lying on the sidewalk, unconscious. Somebody had poured water on his face to clean it of soot and they were now checking for a pulse and trying to get him to wake up.

The next thing they knew, they were being approached by a paramedic.

"We'll take you first," The woman said, looking at Casper, figuring his wounds were probably the worst and needed to be tended to as soon as possible.

The woman called over her shoulder for some help and soon enough a man came over to help her out as they both took Casper from Chris and Callie.

Chris videoed the scene around him as he threw an arm over Callie's shoulder, hugging her to him. Callie didn't even feel him touch her, she just watched as the medic's made Casper sit down.

Casper was in a lot of pain, he was crying as the medics inspected his wounds. Callie watched as the medic asked the other a question and she just responded with the shake of her head. She then said something to Casper and he nodded as he held his arms around himself, his fingers digging into his sides as he tried to quell the pain.

"We're going to have to take him to the hospital! There's not much we can do for him here! Who wants to ride with?" The woman called.

They looked between each other and then at Chris, who was probably the next most injured person here.

"Chris, you want to go with?" Jackie asked, her brow furrowed sadly.

Chris looked at the two girls before him and shook his head, "No. Callie should go first. She's covered in blood."

Callie shook her head, "No, I don't want to go alone."

Chris cast Callie a reassuring look, "Casper will be there, you're not going to be alone."

Callie shook her head, "We'll be separated when we get to the hospital—"

"Callie!" Jackie suddenly cried, "I promise you, we will be right behind you. I will not leave you alone. Okay? Just go."

Callie was quiet for a minute, but then she nodded, "Okay."

She quickly hugged Chris, kissed him on the cheek, hugged Jackie and then hobbled over to the ambulance. She was helped into the back of the vehicle by the medics and the next thing Chris and Jackie saw was them closing the doors, the siren starting up, and then they were gone.

Chris looked back over at Jackie and looked up down. They were blocks away now from the World Trade Center, but they could still the other building smoldering. It's been at least a half an hour since the South Tower fell and their hopes were shrinking.

They were starting to believe that neither Donna nor Eric had gotten out safely.

Chris just videoed the North Tower as it burned, trying to distract himself from thinking of Eric and Donna and just tried filming. But it didn't last long.

He heard a woman cry out and a man curse and looked up and saw the North Tower as it started to collapse. Chris only held his camera up for a second before he just dropped his arms by his sides, watching the building fall with his own eyes.

It was unbelievable.

All Chris heard around him was insanity. People cursing, screaming and crying. None of them able to comprehend the horrendous act of war that was declared upon them this day.

Chris had officially gone into shock. Everything around him became muffled, the pain in his arm didn't bother him anymore, his mind was a jumble of thoughts, he couldn't think straight. He didn't even notice Jackie falling to her knees and sobbing as she held herself, mourning the loss of loved ones and everyone else that was in that building.

The towers that Chris loved so much were just gone and in their place, dust, ash and debris.

Chris barely noticed two arms wrap around him. He didn't hug back, he didn't acknowledge their presence, he just stood and looked at the place the twin towers once stood tall and proud.

The person holding him was sobbing, Chris could feel their body racking with the sobs. Their hands clawed at Chris's shoulders and hugged him tightly, their face buried in his shoulder. It was at this time Chris realized it was Jackie.

"Dad…" Chris mumbled. It was the only time he'd ever actually called him that.

When telling people about Eric he would just tell them it was his father, it was easier than explaining the situation fully, and everybody assumed Eric was Chris's father, but Chris knew he wasn't, not biologically. Chris never called him Dad to his face and he never referred to Eric has his Dad to friends. He was always just Eric, a father figure.

But right now Chris realized Eric was his father and no one could tell him otherwise.

Eric's the one who taught him to ride a bike and swim, Eric took him bowling when he was seven and they went to the best ice cream place in the city. Eric taught him how ride a skateboard when he was eight and at ten they took a road trip to Niagara Falls. When Chris was twelve Eric realized that he liked to draw and paint, so when Chris asked for professional art lessons, professional art lessons he got. Eric bought him his first camera when he was thirteen and he's been taking pictures ever since.

All those memories came front and center in Chris's mind as he watched that tower fall, but he never cried. He was too shocked to do so.

"Sir!" Chris heard a man's voice, though it sounded muffled.

"Sir!" He heard again, followed by a rough tugging on his arm.

"Sir!" Once more before Chris looked over and saw a man a little shorter than him pleading for his attention. Chris stayed silent as the man spoke, "Yer hurt, ye' need ta' get ta' a hospital!"

Chris looked down at his arm and was amazed that the pain just seemed to go away. He felt numb. He looked back up and stayed silent as the man inspected him, "Yer in shock. C'mon, let's go. Yer Mom can come with!"

Chris looked down and saw Jackie clinging to his arm as the man started pulling him with him towards an ambulance, Chris muttering the word, "Okay…"

The next thing he knew he was sitting in the back of an ambulance as paramedics around him worked, one of them grabbing his arm gently and inspecting it. Jackie sat on the bench next to one of the paramedics, her head in her hands as she sobbed.

All Chris could do was look out the back window and watch as they drove away from the dust that clung in the air where the towers once stood.

0-0-0-0-0

It was later that night that Jackie and the kids finally got home. They decided to go to Eric's apartment, that's where Chris's mother was. She was probably sleeping by now, she usually crashed early.

When they walked into the apartment it took everything Jackie had not to burst into tears. The apartment reminded her of Eric. His green jacket was hung on the coat rack, his converse sneakers sat next to his skateboard that leaned up against the wall, his coffee cup still sat on the coffee table where he was watching TV really early this morning when he couldn't fall back asleep. The apartment even smelled like him.

The group were still covered in ash. Their faces and hair had been washed of it, but their clothes still were coated in a thin layer.

Casper had bandages around both legs after the doctors coated them in some weird liquid and gave him pain medication. Callie got stitches on her left arm where something had cut her pretty deeply and she was treated for infection, as most people at the hospital were. Turns out the pain in Chris's arm stemmed from a fractured bone, so now he wore a cast. And they were also all given oxygen as they tried to clean their systems of the dust that had inhaled for several hours.

"Uh, you kids, uh, you kids just go ahead and go get cleaned up, I'll just, uh, wait here," Jackie said, not looking up at either of the kids.

"Jackie," Callie said, making Jackie look up at her, but her eyes were blank, "We're here for you."

Jackie smiled sweetly and fought the tears as she looked back down at the floor, "Thank you guys."

Callie nodded and smiled and followed Chris back to his room as he looked for some clothes for her to wear.

That left Casper standing in the living room with Jackie as she stumbled over to the couch. She looked over at the broken boy and asked, "Casper… Oh God, I'm sorry. I've got to take you home. You're parents are probably worried sick about you and you about them—"

Casper shook his head, "No…" He stopped for a minute, closing his eyes as he voice became uneven, "Is it, uh… Is it okay if I stay here for tonight? Please?"

Jackie gave him an odd look. She was sure he'd want to go see his family, "But don't you—"

"Please, Miss Burkhart," Casper pleaded, looking her in the eye, his own showing nothing but pain.

Jackie faltered but nodded her head after a moment, "Yeah… Sure. That's fine."

Casper nodded and smiled a forced smile, "Thank you."

He then ventured down the hall Callie and Chris disappeared down, his feet dragging across the carpet before he disappeared into Chris's bedroom.

Jackie had gone by Donna's apartment before they came here. She never answered the door and when Callie found the spare key by the door and they went inside it was dark. No one ever came home. There were no messages left on the phone. Nothing. It was quiet and dark and no one was ever coming home.

Callie fought the tears but ended up crying in Jackie's arms. Thirteen years old and she'd already lost both parents. Jackie tried holding onto the hope that Donna and Eric were both still alive, but it was a very small sliver of hope.

Jackie let the tears fall from her eyes as she sat on the couch and mourned for her best friend and fiancé.

0-0-0-0-0

Chris let Callie shower first. He gave her a pair of old sweatpants and a Yankee's t-shirt to sleep in. Callie doesn't remember really cleaning herself while she was in the shower, she just remembers letting the water fall down on her as she cried quietly to herself.

Her father was killed when she was eleven and her mother was killed now at age thirteen. How could one young girl have so much tragedy in her short life?

Callie was in the shower for a good ten minutes before she got out and dried herself off as best as she could. After she got dressed she went back down the hall and into Chris's room, where he and Casper were both sitting on the floor.

Chris told Casper to go shower next, so he did. He was only gone for a few minutes before he came back wearing to big sweatpants and a too big t-shirt. He stumbled over to the floor and sat back down next to Callie as Chris stumbled out of the bedroom and down the hall to the bathroom.

Callie and Casper sat in silence for a minute, neither of them having the right words to say, because there were no right words to say at a time like this.

So Callie went with, "Why didn't you go home?"

Casper flinched a little as he stared blankly at the ground, "My dad's probably drinkin' tanight, no doubt…"

"But what about your mom? Don't you want to make sure she's alright?" Callie asked, looking over at Casper.

Casper shook his head as his lip quivered, but he stayed silent. Callie was surprised, "Why not? I thought you said—"

"She's not okay," Casper said weakly, his brow furrowing in sadness as he let out a choked sob.

"What?" Callie asked after a moment watching tears fall from Casper's eyes.

"She worked in the South Towa', a few floors above where the plane hit," Casper went on, "There's no way on earth that she got out. That plane destroyed every chance of gettin' out of there alive. And my sister… Oh God…"

He dropped his head and sobbed and Callie put a comforting hand on his arm, "Did your sister work there, too?"

Casper shook his head, "No… She… She…" It was as if he couldn't get words to form. Callie rubbed his arm soothingly, slowly trying to get him to speak, being patient for him, "She went ta' daycare there."

Callie felt her breath hitch in her throat as Casper continued, "She went ta' daycare on the 79th floor. That was 'round the area the plane hit…"

Casper started crying again, "She was four years old…"

Callie put an arm around his shoulders and pulled him close as he rested his head on her shoulder, grabbing the hem of her shirt and gripping onto it for dear life as Callie let him cry.

He cried for a good ten minutes before Chris returned, his arm back in it's sling. He looked down at the two blankly, twitching a bit from anxiety. Callie noticed his uninjured hand was gripping the hem of his new clean shirt and he was twisting it tightly. He was about ready to hit his breaking point.

"Casper…" Callie said quietly, his head still on her shoulder as he sniffled, the tears had stopped flowing at this point. He's cried too much today. He was done.

Casper pulled his head off of his friend's shoulder and looked over at her before looking up to see Chris standing in the middle of the room, twisting his shirt, his eyes glassed over with unshed tears. Callie noticed his lip quiver and pulled away from Casper gently before standing up and going over to Chris, who was looking away from her and Casper.

"Chris…" Callie said quietly, putting a hand on his lower arm.

He flinched and looked up at her, and when he met her eyes the tears started flowing. He choked back a sob and dropped his head onto Callie's shoulder as she pulled him into her arms. Chris had stayed strong all day, he tried not to cry in front of his friends, but the turmoil and heartbreak of the day was bound to catch up with him.

So he stood there in Callie's arms, his arms holding tightly around her middle as he cried every tear he dared not to cry earlier. Callie rubbed his back and let herself cry as well, resting her head on his chest. Callie peeled one arm away from Chris and reached it out to her side, holding her hand out and gesturing for Casper to grab it.

Casper stood and grabbed hold of Callie's hand and she pulled him into their hug. She wrapped an arm around Casper and Chris did the same and they all just stood in the middle of Chris's tiny bedroom and cried together.

They cried for a long time, they don't know how long, but it was long.

Eventually, they ran out of tears to shed and they all pulled apart. They wiped the tears from their faces and sniffled. Chris adjusted his injured arm in his sling as Callie looked towards the doorway of Chris's bedroom.

She heard another voice in the living room, and it wasn't Jackie's. It was another woman's.

Callie raised an eyebrow, "Chris?"

Chris looked down at his girlfriend, but didn't make a sound.

"Who's talking to Jackie?" She asked.

Chris looked over his shoulder down the hall and sighed in relief, "Mom…" He then turned and dashed down the hall, getting quickly to the living room.

He saw his mom standing before the coffee table as Jackie still sat on the couch, wiping her face of tears as well.

Chris's mother was wearing a coat and her shoes were on. She was never dressed to go out, she usually stayed in. She looked tired and for once it wasn't because of the drunks and alcohol.

"Mom?" Chris said suddenly, garnering the attention of both Jackie and Barb.

Barb looked over at her son and let out a sigh of relief, tears immediately spilling out from her eyes and down her already puffy red cheeks.

"Chris," She said quietly, dashing over to him and wrapping her arms around her son, holding him tight, "Oh, thank God you're alright!"

Chris didn't hug his mother back, his hands just grabbed her arms and pushed her back a little as he looked up at her face, "Where were you?"

"Looking for you, of course!" Barb cried, as if that were a ridiculous question, "Since the first tower fell I've been looking for you."

Chris furrowed his brow sadly, "You mean, you actually… Care?"

Barbara furrowed her brow in sadness and shock, "Of course I care about, Chris. You're my son. And I know I do stupid things and I yell at you sometimes, but… I promise you I'm going to change. I'll go to rehab, I'll quit drinking and shooting up, I promise. Okay?"

Chris didn't know what to say. She's said this so many times before but she always went back to her old habits. But for some reason, this time he felt like she actually meant it. It was weird, but she seemed to be being truthful this time.

"Really?" Chris asked, a small glimmer of hope flickering in his brown eyes.

Barb smiled sweetly behind her tears and nodded, "Really. I promise. I'll even let you watch me get rid of everything."

Chris then hugged his mother, which he hasn't done in forever. That's one of the main reasons she took Chris to see a specialist when he was little, because he never hugged her. He only hugged Eric and that was very rare as well. But now, Chris hugged his mother gladly and she loved every minute of it.

0-0-0-0-0

It was half an hour later that Jackie found the messages on the phone. There was eight messages on the machine and they were all very weary to listen to them. But they knew they had to. So Jackie stood by the answering machine and her finger hovered over the play button, her nerves getting to her.

She was tired of crying, but she knew after listening to these that the tears would start up again.

So Jackie hit the button and the first message of eight started.

"Hey, it's me, Donna," The voice said and Callie covered her mouth in shock, the tears already falling as Chris grabbed her hand and squeezed supportively, "I saw what happened in the other building. There's a lot of smoke, I can see it out the window. I know Callie usually comes over to see Chris after school and she never checks the messages at home, so I figured I'd call there. So, I just wanted to let you know I'm alright and I'll see you when I get home, love you, bye."

The line clicked and Callie choked back a sob as he tightened her grip on Chris's hand, leaning into him as the next message began.

"Hey, it's me," Eric's voice spoke, and Jackie's breath hitched in her throat, "Uh, I'm okay. Everything's good here on my floor. I heard the explosion and thought it was a bomb but I've just been told it was a plane? Anyway, I'm okay. I think we're going to be evacuating soon, so I'll see you guys when I get home. Love you, bye."

The line went dead and the next message began to play. Jackie wasn't crying, not yet. Maybe he got out? Jackie could only hope and pray.

"Um, it's Donna again, and um…" She coughed before continuing, you could hear people crying, screaming, yelling and talking very loudly in the background, "I think another plane just hit the building," She coughed, "There's a lot of smoke. We're getting ready to go try and find a way out of here, so… I'm fine, I'll be fine. I love you and I'll see you when I get home."

The message stopped and moved onto the next one, Callie sobbing harder now into Chris's shoulder, "I just heard another explosion. I don't know what happened, but it can't be good. So, anyway, we're evacuating now, but I think I'm going to go upstairs with a few other guys and see if we can help rescue anybody, so… I'll see you when I get home."

Eric hung up the phone and Jackie cried. It was so like him to put others before himself, he always did that, most of the time anyway.

"It's Eric again…" He sounded in pain as he spoke, "I'm fine, don't worry about me, I just hurt my leg a little on the stairwell. Something fell from above and landed on me, but I'm fine. I can make it out of here. I just wanted to call and fill you in on where I was and if I was alright. I'm fine and I'll be home soon. Love you."

Click. Jackie's hope was quickly running thin. Every message they got was crushing every sliver of hope they had left that they're families are alright.

"Callie, it's your mom," Donna said, her voice shaking. She was crying, "I love you, so much, baby, I hope you know that. I didn't call to scare you but… It doesn't look so good from where I'm sitting. There's so much smoke and I can't breathe so well… I'm under my desk right now and I'm lying on the floor, this is the only way I can seem to get any kind of air—" She coughed before continuing, "I love all of you very much. I hope you're all okay. Please take care of Callie, Chris. You're her favorite person in the entire world…" Cough, "She loves you so much…" Donna was gasping for air now, "Stick together, alright? You're really good for each other. I love you so much, Callie baby. I—"

Then the line went dead. Callie was sobbing uncontrollably as it was confirmed her mother was never coming home. Chris held her tight as tears fell from his eyes as well. Jackie was in shock as Casper and Barbara sat on the couch behind them all, looking on solemnly.

There were only two messages left.

"It's Eric again," He coughed, "We can't get upstairs so we're heading down now. I just called to let you know that I'll be home soon, I've just come to grab my stuff and—" He suddenly stopped talking and Jackie panicked for a moment, thinking this was it, but he started speaking again, but he seemed panicked now, "Holy shit! The other tower just collapsed! Oh god, oh god…" He was wheezing now, panic setting in, "Oh jeez… I—Donna was in that building—Oh no… I-I'm sorry, I've got to go, I love you."

The phone went dead. There was one message left. Jackie let it play, terrified for what it was.

"I'm on the tenth floor," Eric said, "We had to take the stair's, we're exhausted. I just wanted to call and let you know I love you all, just in case. Chris buddy, keep doing what you love. You're an amazing photographer and artist, I hope all your dreams come true, I love you bud…" Eric started breathing heavily, as if he couldn't catch his breath, "Jackie… We were going to get married and move to Brooklyn. Buy a nice little house and have five kids, just like you wanted. Five boys. I—" He stopped talking for a minute to try and keep himself from crying, "I don't want to die, Jackie… I thought I did, but I don't… I'm sorry, I need to get off the phone. We're on the seventh floor now. I love you so much, goodbye."

The phone went dead and Jackie started blankly at the machine. Did he get out? Didn't he? From what it seems, he didn't. And Jackie would have to break that news to his parents. She'd also have to break the news to Donna's.

There were no messages from Red or Kitty on the machine. They must have called Eric's cell phone. Jackie left hers at her place.

Jackie looked up and saw Chris holding Callie as she cried, he was crying too. Barb was crying as well, she had known Eric for nearly ten years now, he'd practically raised her son. Casper sat next to Barb, his eyes blankly staring at the answering machine.

They all just sat there for several minutes, trying to take in everything they just heard. It was almost ten o'clock now, they should all go get sleep, it's been the longest day.

"Can I call my Dad?" Casper suddenly asked, everybody looking in his direction.

Jackie nodded slowly and picked up the phone and handed it to him. Casper picked it up and dialed his step-fathers number, a little nervous as to what he would have to say to him.

Everybody around him sat in tense silence as Casper heard the phone ring, he was just waiting for him to answer. It seemed like he would never answer, but he did.

"Hello?" He slurred, sounding tired.

Casper was quiet for a minute, not sure what to say, so his father said again, "Hello?"

Casper fumbled with the phone for a minute, swallowing thickly before speaking, "Dad. It's me, Casper."

"Casper?" The man replied, "W-where are ye'? Are ye' a'right?"

Casper nodded but then realized he couldn't see him, "Yeah, yeah… I'm a'right. I'm fine."

"Well, where are ye'?" His dad asked, "Are ye' at a friend's house or somethin'?"

"Yeah, I'm stayin' with a couple a' friends… Is that a'right?" He asked, nervous his father would begin yelling at him.

The line was silent for a minute before his dad spoke again, "Just stay where ye' are for the night, a'right? I don't want ye' to come home."

It hurt Casper a little but at first. Did he not care that much? But then he went on with, "I'm drinkin' a lot right now and… And I don't want to hurt ye', so… So don't come home for a while okay? Are ye' with some good people?"

Casper nodded and felt tears burn in his eyes, "Yeah, yeah. They're great people, dad…"

"Well good, stay there for a couple of days while I try to deal with this fuckin' horrible nightmare. I'll give ye' a call when I think I'm doin' better," He replied.

Casper then asked Jackie if he could give his father their number and she let him and he recited the phone number to his father.

"A'right Casper, I'ma try an' go lie down and get some sleep," His dad said, "I'm sorry 'bout yer motha' and Kylie… They were good girls… I love ye', son."

That was the first time Casper's ever heard him say that to him. Casper tried not to cry again and he bit his lip as he replied, "I love ye', too, pops."

"A'right, well… Try and get some sleep, it'll make ye' feel betta'. Goodnight," His dad said.

"A'right. Goodbye…" Then the line went dead.

Casper shakily put the phone back down and looked up at his friends. Callie put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly, forcing a smile, "Come on, Casper. We're going to go try and get some sleep."

Casper nodded and shakily stood, his heart racing. Jackie looked over at the kids and said, "Guys…"

They all looked over at her, all of them wearing solemn expressions as Jackie suddenly walked over and hugged Callie, "I'm so sorry…"

Callie tightly hugged Jackie back, but she tried not to cry. They stood there for a solid minute or two, both them keeping their tears held back. After Callie pulled away, Jackie went to hug Chris. She wrapped her arms around him and he hugged her back, but not as tight as Callie had.

"I'm sorry about your dad, Chris," Jackie said, biting her lip to keep the tears back.

"He was your fiancé," Chris said, his head resting on her shoulder, "I'm sorry."

Jackie rubbed his back soothingly and hugged for a minute longer. He pulled away from her and went back to stand by Callie. The three teenagers were about to go head down the hall, but Jackie grabbed Casper's arm.

She looked at him for a moment and he looked at her, and then Jackie hugged him. She hugged this kid she barely knew because he lost a mother and sister that day and he needed somebody there for him. He had Chris and Callie sure, but his father told him not to come home. Jackie hugged him because he needed a parent figure right now and she was all he had.

They both cried a little bit, and Jackie saw over Casper's shoulder Barb hugging both Callie and Chris. They were crying again as well. Those phone calls basically confirmed what they all feared the most and now they could finally mourn.

0-0-0-0-0

"But it was the people who spoke loudest in their silence, and in Warsaw, in song," The newscaster said as Jackie stared at the TV blankly, not really actually paying attention to what was going on, "The liberties now threatened by terrorism are no more appreciated than in Eastern Europe. The final word of the day, though, may have been uttered by a woman in Paris. 'Today' she said, 'We are all Americans.'"

Everything on the news tonight was about the events in New York City today, which was to be expected, it'd be the news for at least a week. Eventually, everybody would heal. Nobody would ever forget this day and the fear it struck in the people of the world, but not everybody would ever truly feel the pain of those who lost someone on this horrible day.

People lost friends, people lost husbands and wives, people lost brothers and sisters, people lost sons and daughters, and probably most horribly, children lost mothers and fathers.

Jackie was sad, but she could slowly feel the anger building up inside of her, an anger that would never truly leave her.

Jackie looked down the hall, one lamp lit the dim path. The kids and Barb had all gone to sleep over an hour ago now. It was nearly eleven thirty now, the news was almost over. Jackie knew she needed sleep, but she wasn't sure she would get any tonight.

All that was on her mind was Eric.

The last call to the apartment was him telling her he was on the seventh floor. The answering machine said that it was recorded only minutes before the tower collapsed, and if Eric had survived, Jackie figured he would have come home by now.

It was hard to believe. This morning he blew a kiss to her from the front door before he left for his presentation. He glared at her and told her she better catch it, to which she replied with doing that very thing and putting it in her pocket.

Jackie placed her hand on the pocket of her sweatpants and sighed sadly, tears pushing against her eyes again.

Jackie looked across the room at the front door before she stood and decided to go get a drink, her throat feeling dry. She stood shakily and slowly stumbled into the kitchen, her feet skidding across the floor tiredly.

She just felt like giving up. Her shoulders were slumped, her eyes had dark circles under them, her body was trembling.

Jackie went to the cupboard and opened it up, grabbing the first glass she saw and then she stepped over to the sink to fill the cup with water. As she turned the taps on she looked over to the counter. Eric's medication sat on it next to a dish towel and a dirty cup. All of that was from this morning when he had to take his meds.

Jackie sighed again and turned the taps off before bringing the glass of water to her lips. She took a few sips, poured the rest of the water down the drain, set the cup down in the sink, and then stumbled back around the counter before going back into the living room.

She sniffled as she stumbled back towards the couch, trying to keep herself from crying. She's already cried so much today, she was tired of it. She was tired of everything. She could already see what it would be like when she went back to work.

People would all tell her how sorry they were for her loss and if she needed anything, and then people would give her things and send her things, then eventually everyone would move on and forget about her, all thinking she's moved on as well, but really she'd always hurt. No one just got over something like this.

It was different if a loved one died of cancer or some kind of illness at the end of their life. But when they died because of senseless violence, you always wondered why it happened. Why did they die? How did this happen?

Jackie would always ask herself these things, but she'd never have an answer.

Jackie sat back down on the couch and looked back at the TV. The news was just finishing up, the last story of the day being discussed and it was about World Trade 7 collapsing that afternoon. Jackie sighed and reached for the remote on the coffee table. She figured she should at least try and get some sleep.

Just as she was about to grab the remote, her hand hovering over it, she heard something creak. She looked up in alarm, looking around, trying to find the source of the sound. She looked down the hall. Maybe one of the kids had gotten up?

Jackie didn't see anything. She sighed again and shook her head. Now she was hearing things. Today's made her lose her mind.

Jackie went to grab the remote again when she heard something slam. She gasped in alarm and jumped back into the couch. She looked around the dark room, the only thing offering any source of light was the television and the dim golden glow of the lamp in the hallway.

She heard some more creaking of the floorboards. Had somebody broken in? Jackie suddenly felt fearful again and grabbed the nearest thing she could find. The coffee mug it was. It was heavy, maybe she could use it as a weapon.

Jackie stood and crept around the coffee table, slowly inching towards the door. She leaned to the right a little to reach for the lamp on the table right before the hall and pulled on the chain, turning it on. Once the room was lit a little more, Jackie got her voice to work.

"Who's there?" She called, raising the mug in her hand, ready to strike the person over the head, "Show yourself!"

The creaking of the floorboards became louder and the person made themselves visible in the dim glow of the room. Jackie suddenly gasped and the coffee mug slipped from her hand, crashing to the ground and shattering into a dozen pieces.

The person standing before her was covered in soot, blood on their arms and face, their eyes blank and emotionless, their whole body trembling.

"Eric?" Jackie said quietly, her voice shaking as tears threatened her eyes.

Eric suddenly tossed his keys onto the small table by the door, where he was always put his keys before he looked down at Jackie, his eyes harboring no emotion.

"There was a lot of smoke," Eric spoke, his voice shaking as his eyes glassed over, "I couldn't breathe… We went downstairs, but we couldn't rescue anybody…"

Jackie took a small step forward, careful of his current situation. He was definitely in shock as he recited what had happened to her.

"We were a little over a block away when the building collapsed… Something burned my arm…" Eric continued, "Everybody I was with was gone, so I wandered around for a while. I think I had a seizure or something, because I passed out and a firefighter woke me a few hours later. He wanted to take me to a hospital, but I had to see if you were okay… So I wandered around for a couple of hours, I didn't know where I was, everything was so different. I was surrounded by dust and rubble. The firefighter said it was miraculous that I survived…" Eric furrowed his brow a little, finally showing a little emotion on his face as his once bright eyes looked into Jackie's, "Are… Are you okay?"

Jackie had tears trailing down her cheeks, her body was shaking as she choked back a sob, "Eric? Is it really you?"

Eric stayed silent as he looked around the room, seemingly confused. Jackie took a few steps towards him, reaching her hand out to touch him. Her hand brushed the dust covered sleeve of his ripped and mangled shirt before her fingers brushed against his arm. She choked back a sob as she grabbed his hand and he looked down at her.

"Jackie…" He said under his breath, his face finally showing a little emotion.

Jackie finally let herself cry as she launched herself into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close, burying her head into his shoulder and crying. She didn't care that he was covered in dust, ash, and debris. She was just glad he was safe.

She repeatedly sobbed his name over and over, as if she couldn't believe he was standing before her, wrapped in her arms. He didn't respond to her touch at first, he was too shocked to really fully grasp what was going on around him, but eventually Jackie's felt his light as a feather touch on her back before he slowly tightened his arms around.

He was shaking horribly and it took Jackie a moment to realize he was crying now too. Jackie tightened her arms around him and cried harder, out of purse sadness, relief and joy. She was so happy he was okay.

They stood there in each other's arms for what seemed like an eternity before Jackie heard footsteps behind her.

"What's going on?" She heard a sleepy Chris ask.

She finally peeled herself away from Eric and turned to look at Chris, though her hand tightly held onto Eric's.

"Eric…?" Chris said tiredly, as if this might be a dream. And then he realized that Eric was actually standing in his living. Chris suddenly smiled and cried, "Dad!"

He ran over to his father and ambushed him with a hug. He nearly knocked Eric over and Jackie's ears were overwhelmed with the sound of Eric's laughter. She almost cried just hearing it. A noise she thought she'd never hear again.

She watched as Eric wrapped his arms around Chris and held him tight against him, kissing the side of his head as Chris sobbed into his shoulder in pure joy.

The next thing everyone knew, Callie, Barb and Casper all came down the hall, curious to know what all the commotion was about. Jackie then watched as Callie and Barb joined in on Eric's and Chris's hug. It was a heartwarming moment really, and Jackie felt her heart swell in happiness, something she thought she'd never feel.

So she joined in on the group hug, everyone crying and sometimes letting out a small laugh of joy. Casper didn't join in on the hug, but he enjoyed watching the family reunite. Callie's mother wasn't there with them, and Casper's mother and sister were still gone, but he was still glad that they had a little bit of happiness that stemmed from this day.

It's what they all needed.

0-0-0-0-0

September 17, 2001

It was that next Monday that the kids went back to school. The school's in Lower Manhattan shut down for the rest of last week, deciding the give the kids who attended the schools a little time to take in what had happened and heal, even if it was just a little.

Chris and Callie left for school about half an hour ago. They were both nervous, this was the first time they've left the house since the events on September 11th. But they put on a brave front and they went to school anyway, no matter how scared they were.

On the night that Eric returned and after all the commotion had died down, Eric called his parents to tell them he was okay. They all cried and talked on the phone for over an hour. He told them about Donna though, but they still had hope that'd she's come back like he did. But it's been a week now and still Donna hadn't come back. They'd all accepted what had happened to her at this point, but Callie still came home every day and listened to the messages on the answering machine that her mother left. Every day that went by though, she cried a little less. She considered herself lucky to have such good friends and family. Eric, Jackie, Chris and even Casper were really helping her through it.

Right now, Jackie and Eric sat on the couch, both of them just enjoying each other's company. Jackie sometimes still couldn't believe Eric was alive, she sometimes had dreams that he didn't make it out of the tower or he was crushed by the falling debris. She always woke up in tears and Eric would hold her and tell her he was alright and that he wasn't going anywhere.

Eric had his arm thrown over Jackie's shoulders as he held her close as they stared at the TV screen, both of them deciding to take a day off, figuring they'll go back to work tomorrow to begin to get back on their everyday routine. For now, they just wanted to be alone together.

"I'm glad you're okay, Eric," Jackie said after a few moments of watching TV in silence.

Eric looked down at her and smiled sweetly, "I'm glad you're okay."

Jackie smiled up at him and rested her head on his chest, "I thought I'd never see you again…"

Eric sighed through his nose sadly and rubbed Jackie's back, "Jackie…"

"I know, you don't like talking about, I don't think anybody does, but… I just needed to let you know I don't know what I'd do without you," Jackie said.

Eric stayed silent as Jackie continued, "I'd have to help Barb raise Chris, I'd have to raise Callie since I'm her Godmother… I'd have to do so much on my own…"

Eric raised an eyebrow, "Chris can mostly take care of himself, he's done it for years. He doesn't like people helping him out. Callie, well… She's a bit of a hand full, but she's better when she's with Chris… I think you can do anything, Jackie, if I'm here or not."

"Yeah, but it just wouldn't be the same…" Jackie replied sadly, "Everything's better when you're here."

Eric smiled and blushed a little, "Well, look at you, getting all sentimental on me… What's gotten into you?"

Jackie shrugged and wiped her eyes as tears started to form there, "I don't know, I've just been a little emotional lately."

Eric shrugged his shoulders, "Well, that's to be expected. I mean, look at what just happened, you're allowed to be a little upset. More than a little upset, you're allowed to be distraught."

Jackie smiled and shook her head, "No, that's not it. Or, it's not my only reason for being upset."

Eric furrowed his brow curiously, "What do you mean?"

Jackie smiled suddenly and pulled away from Eric so she could get a better look at him, "Well, you know how over the weekend I was feeling a little sick?"

Eric nodded, "You were feeling that way last week. You went to the hospital yesterday because you threw up."

Jackie nodded, "Yeah. I thought it was the stomach flu and I went in thinking they'd give medicine or something for that, but…"

"But what?" Eric then realized something, "Wait. Are you saying what I think you're saying? Are you—"

Jackie suddenly beamed and that was all Eric needed to know. Eric was in shock for a moment, then Jackie watched as his face contorted with several different emotions, finally landing on joy.

"Wait… We're going to be…" Eric couldn't believe it, he suddenly sat up and grabbed Jackie's hands, beaming down at her belly before looking back up into her eyes, "I'm going to be a dad? Like, for real?"

Jackie giggled and nodded, "Yep."

Eric laughed and wrapped his arms around Jackie, giggling like a little girl in pure joy, "Oh my god! I'm going to be a dad!" Eric pulled away and looked down at Jackie, holding her arms in his hands, "You're going to be a mom! We're going to be parents! Oh my god!"

Jackie laughed watching how excited he was getting before he wrapped her in a hug again. They sat this way for God knows how long, they were just happy they could finally start their lives together. Nothing made them happier.

0-0-0-0-0

Chris followed Casper into class that morning right at eight o'clock. Usually when they entered the classroom the teacher had something written down on the board, but today it was blank.

Chris thought that was odd, but he didn't say anything as he went to go sit at his desk towards the middle of the room.

Casper sat in the back of class, two rows behind Chris, he always has. Chris looked back at his friend who sat in his chair and looked back at him, an odd expression on his face as he shrugged his shoulders. Both boys looked back towards the front of the class as the teacher's heels suddenly clacked against the tile floor, garnering the entire classes' attention. Unlike most days, the class was silent, even before the teacher walked in.

The woman who was at least in her mid-thirties looked up at the class after placing her purse down on her desk. She wore a smile, but her eyes told a different story.

"Good morning, class," She said as she walked to stand up in the front of the room, "I know a lot of you are probably still feeling saddened and shocked by the events that took place nearly a week ago, as most everybody still is," She began, "As you all know, this is our first class since the tragedy that took place last week. I just need to ask you like I've asked everybody at home, the people who work here, and what we need to ask everybody and that's, are you okay?"

A few of the kids muttered a yes and some kids stayed silent. The classroom was quiet for a moment before the teacher started speaking again.

"Good. Now, as the first assignment for the day I need each and every one of you to tell us how you're feeling. Just one word to describe your feelings, I ask for just one word. That's all. I just need to know how you're feeling. So… If we could begin with the back of the class," She said, pointing to the girl in the far back left corner.

The class then went around, saying one word that described their feelings of the events and aftermath of the events that shook the world just a week prior. Some kids said sad, some said afraid, one said hopeless and another said lost. Casper said useless. He felt like he could do nothing to help anyone. So he said he felt useless.

Then it was Chris's turn. The teacher looked at him and spoke his name. He looked up and then around at the class. Chris always hated talking in front of the class, it made him feel sick. It was just a reaction of being terrified of talking in front of people. But today, Chris didn't feel that.

Instead of saying a word, Chris stood and got up from his chair. Everyone heard the creaking of the chair sliding against the tile floor and they looked up as they watched Chris step to the front of the room. The teacher watched as he went to the empty chalk board and watched as he picked up a piece of the white used chalk as he held it up the board and wrote one word.

The word he wrote wasn't an emotion or feeling, it was something much more powerful than that. He wrote the word 'liberty' on the board. After he finished doing that, he set the chalk down and turned to face the class, not making eye contact with anybody, both his fists clenched nervously.

"Chris?" The teacher said quietly, curious concern lacing her words.

Chris released a nervous sigh before he looked up at the class, his eyes wide behind his glasses before he spoke.

"My girlfriend have people come up to her every day and offer sympathy," Chris started, feeling like now was his time to truly let people know how he felt about what happened, "Every day she's constantly reminded she's lost somebody when all she wants to do is heal. Not forget, but heal…"

Everybody stared intently at Chris, genuinely interested in what he had to say.

"I woke up this morning and all I wanted to do was lie in bed and cry, but… I knew that if I wanted to heal like everybody else is trying so hard to do, I had to at least get out of my bed. So… I got up and came back here, to school," He said, his voice breaking just a little, "It's going to be a long while before we truly feel happiness again, but, I hope some of you will talk to your friends today and maybe smile, maybe laugh, because that's what we need right now."

Chris turned to look at his teacher before he went on, "When you told me what we had to do this morning as an assignment, on a normal day, I'd panic. Speaking in front of the class is a huge fear of mine, but my phobia doesn't seem so terrifying anymore, I've seen much worse now. I don't think speaking in front in front of the class and embarrassing myself is going to bother me anymore…"

Chris's voice was getting weak, you could tell he was trying not to get choked up.

"Just last night, my friend Casper," Chris pointed to his friend in the back of the class who was looking right at him, "He made us laugh, and just the idea that we can still laugh after what's happened is amazing…" Chris said, "Our lives have changed. We're broken, but we're trying so hard to be happy. One day we will be, we will be happy again. And that's awesome. It means we've won," Chris smiled a little bit before continuing, "Now I didn't get up here to tell you you're going to be okay, not to tell you how brave you are… We're feeling unbearable pain right now…"

Chris tried not to cry, but the tears were pushing at his eyes, trying to fall down his face, but he fought it a little longer.

"I still have hope. This country was attacked, and I still have hope. Because we can recover. We will recover like we did after Pearl Harbor, after JFK was shot, and after Martin Luther King was shot," A few tears rolled down Chris's face as he spoke, "The media and politicians keep telling us these people that did this had extreme wit, and skill. Any idiot can blow something up. They're cowards. But we, the people of the United States, we're rebuilding. We're helping people. People we don't even know. We offer comfort to those in need, we volunteer to help the wounded, we build things that were destroyed. And that's why we've already won. They can't break us. Not anymore."

Chris pushed his glasses up for a minute to wipe his eyes of tears before settling them back on the bridge of his nose.

"Me and my girlfriend used to go to this park. Every day we went to this park, and the view from this park was the World Trade Center," He choked back a sob again, seemingly getting a little angry, which was understandable, everybody was, "And now it's gone. They destroyed it. These beautiful towers that both my dad and my girlfriend's mother worked in, those beautiful towers that I just loved to look at, those towers I thought would always be there because nothing can break something so tall and strong… And they're gone… But you know what I see when I go to that park now?"

Chris sniffled, "The Statue of Liberty… They can take away our happiness, they can make us feel hopeless, and they can take away the ones we love…" Chris was trying so hard not to cry, "But they can't take away our liberty. We may not have happiness now, but we will again on day. We may feel hopeless, but our hope is still buried deep down in us somewhere. And we may think the ones we love are gone," Chris looked at Casper as he said this, "But they're always close, even when they feel far away," Chris saw a tear roll down Casper's face, a tear he quickly wiped away as he watched Chris proudly as he finished his speech, "Just know that, as the president said, I hear you, the country can hear you, and soon enough the people that took those towers down will soon be hearing all of you… Thank you."

Chris slowly slunk back to his desk and sat down, every eye in the classroom on him.

"Thank you, Chris, that was very well said," The teacher said as she walked back to the front of the class.

Chris was then met with several slaps on the back and encouraging words from his classmates. Things like 'wait to go, Chris,' or 'well said, man,' and 'thanks for making me cry, Chris,' by Casper. Chris smiled at that a little and was met with a small chuckle from his friend as the class resumed as it normally would.

0-0-0-0-0

Chris walked towards the corner at the bus stop that afternoon. He usually went there to meet up with Callie and then they'd go home. He had to walk by several small businesses on the way there and everybody had either a memorial set out, an American flag hanging up, or a note for the victims in their families in their windows.

Chris walked by this one place every day though, and a man named Volker lived there. He was from Germany but he moved here when he got a little older. He was always complaining about how this country treats immigrants and how this country treats him poorly. He always says he hates it here. Chris always wanted to ask him if he hated it here so much why didn't he just leave? But he never did, he just let it be.

But today, as Chris was walking by the man's bakery, he saw him hanging an American flag next to his German one as if to say, Germany stands with America.

Chris stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and looked up at him and watched him hang it. The man was just finishing up when Chris got there and he climbed down from his ladder and brushed his hands off as he looked up at the two flags proudly. He then started to grab his ladder and take it back inside when he caught Chris watching him out the corner of his eye.

They just looked at each other for a minute. Have you ever looked at someone and said more words with your eyes than a single sound from your mouth could speak? That's what happened right then and there.

Chris smiled warmly at the man and the man smiled back at him, throwing a hand up to wave at him, "Chris," He said.

Chris smirked, "Mr. Bruhl," He said, "Nice flags."

The man smiled up at the flags and then back at Chris, "Nice country."

Chris smiled wider and the man smiled back before he collected his ladder and went back inside to put it away. Chris started back down the street again, his hands clutching the straps of his backpack as he walked.

He stopped at the bus stop at the corner of the street and waited for his friend's to meet up with him. As he stood there waiting, though, he cast his forward. Straight down the street was ground zero, it was a little distance away, but you could see it.

You could hear construction noises as they cleared rubble from the area. The area Chris's favorite thing about New York used to stand. But Chris thinks he actually likes something better than those towers now.

As Chris looked towards ground zero he saw a fireman, his hat on but his large fireproof coat was somewhere else, he just wore a blue t-shirt that the name of his fire department on it. He was working away at rebuilding a broken city and that's what Chris liked most about New York.

The people. The people were the best and nothing could ever break them down, not even the most powerful of armies.