Author's Note:
Hey, everybody. So here's another side story that serves as another prequel for the Team Legacy series. I figured that this was a good starting point to flesh out the characters a little bit before I officially started the series and I've been wanting to do a 9/11 story for a while. I was actually inspired by the song of the same name "In A New York Minute" by Don Henley, who is one of the lead singers of the famous rock band The Eagles and I also delved into some of my own personal experiences of what I went through that day as a 8-year-old experiencing the event live on T.V. at school. I also decided that it would be a good idea to post this the week of the 22nd anniversary of 9/11, even if I couldn't post it on the actual day. Also since Katie is Jewish, I decided to do some research on how Jewish funerals are conducted and I also thought it would be a nice parallel to show the varying different experiences that both Katie and Cassie had on this specific day.
May everyone who have lost their lives on this horrible day rest in peace.
In A New York Minute
Written By MissPhoenixGirl92
SEPTEMBER 11TH, 2001
THE BUCHANAN RESIDENCE
CHELSEA, LONDON, ENGLAND
7 A.M.
The alarm rang loudly and Rhonda opened her eyes with a soft groan as she lay in her bed.
"Get up, Rhonda; you're going to be late!" Beatrice hollered from the doorway, sporting a huge belly.
"Yes, Mum," Rhonda grumbled crabbily as she slowly got up from her bed and trudged over to the bathroom with her younger sister Abigail.
Then as soon as the girls washed up and got ready for the day, they walked downstairs into the kitchen where their father Harold was sitting at the table while reading a newspaper.
"Morning, girls," he greeted them with a smile as he looked up briefly to see the girls walk over to the cabinet to retrieve a couple of bowls and spoons before they went over to another cabinet to grab their favorite cereals.
They soon went over to the table and sat down to pour their cereal into their bowls before they each took turns pouring milk into their cereal and dug into their breakfast.
"Don't dilly-dally, Rhonda; the bus will be here any minute to take you to school," Beatrice reminded them sternly.
"Yes, Mum," Rhonda nodded as she stuffed her face with a spoonful of Frosted Flakes.
Abigail also took a large bite of her Fruit Loops cereal as she looked over at her older stepsister.
Then just as Rhonda had finished eating, there was a loud honking sound blasting outside as the bus pulled in front of their flat.
"Go grab your things; the bus is about to leave!" Beatrice hollered as she clapped her hands frantically and Rhonda quickly jumped out of her seat while grabbing her backpack before bolting out the door.
She walked over to the front door and stepped outside on the balcony as she watched her stepdaughter board the school bus before it closed its doors and pulled away from the flat. Beatrice then watched the bus drive away for a few minutes before she turned around and headed back inside.
As the bus was moving towards its destination, Rhonda went over to the left side of the bus and sat down there. It wasn't long before a head popped out from behind and she glanced over to see a young African American boy smirking at her.
"Hey, Rhonda; what's shaking today?" he greeted her while leaning over the top of the seat.
"I'm so bloody tired; I wish I got to sleep in for a few more minutes," Rhonda groaned.
"Well, you can always take a nap on the bus until we get to school," the boy suggested.
"With these kids screaming and hollering all around me? Not a chance," Rhonda scoffed with an eye roll.
"Luthor, you need to sit right back down in your seat before the driver catches you," a young redheaded girl admonished him as she was sitting right in front of Rhonda along with a gawky and nerdy-looking redheaded boy with short and curly hair, thick-rimmed glasses and light freckles on his face.
"Don't be ridiculous, Katie; I can sit up whenever I want," Luthor declared haughtily with an even more defiant smirk.
"Luthor Johnson, what did I tell ya about standing on your seat? Sit right back down!" a female Cockney voice barked at him belligerently.
Luthor then immediately plopped back down on his seat while putting on a brave face to show his friends that he wasn't that scared of her.
Then once the bus arrived at the school, Rhonda and her friends disembarked as they headed towards the front entrance and entered the corridor that lead to their first class of the day.
An hour and a half passed as Rhonda and her friends were sitting in their classroom and their teacher was going over the lesson plan for the morning; many of the students appeared to be listless and bored with some of them laying their heads on their desks. Rhonda wasn't paying any mind to her as she was busy writing down her thoughts on a black and white journal.
"Hey, Rhonda; whatcha writing?" a female voice asked her.
Rhonda glanced over to see a British girl with light, fair skin, dark hazel green eyes and long, wavy and straight auburn brown hair staring at her quizzically.
"Nothing," Rhonda mumbled as she turned back to her journal.
"Doesn't seem like a whole lot of nothing," the girl retorted with a conniving and devious smirk.
"Leave me alone, Jen; I mean it," Rhonda retorted sternly as she shot a withering glare at her.
Then before Rhonda realized what was happening, Jen lunged right for her desk and snatched the journal right from underneath her nose as she started to pour through its contents.
"Hey, give it back! I said give it back!" Rhonda protested as she reached out her hand to retrieve the journal from her tormentor.
However, Jen resisted her efforts by pushing her away from her and then flipped over to her latest entry before she suddenly stood up on her chair and looked over at the entire class.
"Hey, guys! Look what Rhonda wrote in her journal!" she cackled.
"I said give it back, Jen! I mean it!" Rhonda yelled, becoming even more agitated and irate as she attempted to swipe her journal away from her again but to no avail.
Jen's smirk widened as she began to read the entry out loud.
"Last Saturday my Daddy took me to my favorite restaurant Burger King where I had a double cheeseburger, a Coke and a Hershey's sundae pie. It was a great day. I wish that I can eat Burger King every day."
Many of the students burst out into raucous and hysterical laughter as Jen turned to look back at Rhonda with a haughty and condescending smirk.
"You are such a little baby. When are you going to grow up?"
Rhonda then sank into her seat as she continued to hear the shrieking, boisterous laughter of her classmates all around her while covering her face and shaking in tremors.
"That's enough, Miss Deson," the teacher scolded her sternly.
"But Ms. Caldwell, why do I have to sit in the very same room as this retard here?" Jen demanded while pointing at Rhonda, who looked like she was on the very verge of tears.
"I said that's enough, Miss Deson!" Ms. Caldwell snapped, her patience wearing thin.
But just as she was about to hand down a serious punishment for her student, another woman entered the room and approached her as she whispered something in her ear. Ms. Caldwell's face immediately paled in horror and disbelief as she rushed over to the television and turned it on. The television was now showing a live image of the North Tower in New York City on fire.
"What's happening?" one of the students demanded as the class quickly flocked over to the television and stared in awe and marvel at the screen.
"I don't know, maybe it was an accident," another student piped in.
"Yeah, maybe," Rhonda mused, not sure what to make of what she was seeing.
"All right, students; it's time for you to head to your next class," Ms. Caldwell ordered. "Go on now; you must not tarry."
She then turned to look at Jen with a pointed glare. "And Miss Deson, I suggest that you hand over that journal to Miss Petrie right this instant."
"All right, fine," Jen rolled her eyes with a scoff as she gave back the journal to Rhonda. "Here's your dumb journal. I'm leaving."
She then turned around and stormed off without another word.
The children then dispersed as they all flooded out of the classroom and filed out into the corridor for their next class.
Several minutes later, Rhonda and her friends were sitting in their science class as they were busy working on various assignments. The television was also on as a BBC news anchor was reporting on what was going on back in New York. Rhonda then glanced over at the television surreptitiously, wondering how this potential situation was going to get resolved.
TLSTLSTLSTLS
TWO HOURS EARLIER
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
MANHATTAN, NEW YORK
It was 7:30 a.m. and 18-year-old Tiffany Bradford sat up in bed, eager for another day of classes. She then stretched and yawned deeply as she got out of bed and walked over to the bathroom to get ready. Then as soon as she changed into her clothes, which consisted of a blue blouse with a pair of jeans and a pair of black shoes, she walked over to a phone sitting on the night table and picked it up while dialing her parents' number. After a few minutes of hearing the dial tone ringing incessantly in her ear, she was relieved to hear her mother's voice on the other end of the line.
"Hello, sweetheart; it's so good to hear from you," Cassie beamed.
"Hey, Mom; I was hoping to catch you before you went off to work first thing. Is Dad there?" Tiffany inquired.
"No, Tiffany; he's already gone off to work. I'll tell him that you called though," Cassie sighed dejectedly.
"Okay; tell him that I said hi. I'm heading out the door now. Talk to you later; love you," Tiffany replied.
"Love you too, sweetie; bye," Cassie smiled and then she hung up.
Tiffany then placed the phone back into the receiver as she grabbed her things before heading out the door.
As she was walking through the campus grounds, she saw a lot of the other students laughing, talking and sharing jokes. Some of the boys were busy tossing a football around and goofing off while some of the girls were huddled off to the side and exchanging all kinds of salacious gossip.
It had only been a few weeks since Tiffany had first gone off to college in order to study law just like her mother before her, but even though she was acclimating to college life and was enjoying making friends and being out on her own, a part of her really missed her family. She was worried about how her parents and younger siblings were going to adjust to life without her at home, especially since she had a very close bond with them.
Tiffany exhaled deeply and quickly shook the thoughts out of her head as she continued on her brisk walk to her class.
At least tomorrow I'm going to have a nice day off and I can drive down to my parents' house so that we can all go out to dinner for my 19th birthday.
However, what she didn't realize then was that her day was going to turn out to be unlike anything that she could have possibly imagined.
About an hour and a half later, Tiffany was sitting in class while listening to a lecture given by her professor and taking as many notes as possible. Moments later a man entered the classroom and whispered something in the professor's ear as he nodded understandingly.
"Hey, uh, Professor, what's going on?" a boy asked.
"Nothing is wrong, ladies and gentlemen. We will continue on with our lesson as usual," the professor reassured him calmly.
Tiffany just brushed off the professor's answer and kept on jotting down her notes for the rest of the class.
But then another hour and a half passed and just as the class was winding down, a security guard burst into the room with a panic-stricken look on his face.
"Sir, another plane just crashed into another one of the Twin Towers! We got to evacuate the school immediately. There's no telling when it's going to collapse!"
"Students, pick up your things and follow me!" the professor ordered as all of the students quickly packed up and filed out of the room.
Then as the students exited the corridor and arrived at the front entrance, they heard a loud, thunderous boom echoing in the distance.
"Oh my God, it's collapsing!" a female student yelled as she caught a glimpse of the North Tower collapsing.
A cold fear shuddered through Tiffany's spine as she immediately realized that this really wasn't an accident; this situation was a lot more serious than that.
This is clearly an attack. But by whom?
Just then a car pulled over and the window rolled down as Cassie poked her head out of the driver's side.
"Get inside now!" she yelled shrilly with wild eyes.
Tiffany then ran around the car and jumped into the passenger's side without a moment of hesitation as she swung the door closed before the car sped off wildly into the street.
"Mom? What's happening? Why are the Twin Towers on fire?" Tiffany demanded fearfully.
"I don't know; honey. All I know is that someone crashed those two planes on purpose and we need to get the hell out now!" Cassie exclaimed as she kept on driving.
"Where's Dad? Is he coming with us?" Tiffany asked.
"I don't know where he is, sweetheart; I haven't been able to get a hold of him. We can only hope to God that he has gotten out of there safely," Cassie retorted tersely.
"Where are we going, Mommy?" Kiki wailed fearfully as she hung on to her twin brother Forrest for dear life.
"We're going to Nana's beach house in Montauk; we should be safe there at least for the time being," Cassie informed her. "Now just be quiet and let me concentrate on the road please."
Tiffany and her siblings could only look on at their mother with uncertainty and worry in their eyes as Tiffany's other siblings Gus and Cindy huddled close to each other for comfort.
TLSTLSTLSTLS
Meanwhile, back in London, Rhonda and the rest of her classmates had just watched the North Tower collapse as they stared at the screen in stunned and terrified silence.
"What's happening?" a boy asked.
"Is the other Tower going to fall too?" a girl inquired anxiously.
Katie also stared at the T.V. screen with a nauseated and perturbed expression, almost as if she was going to be sick. A British Iranian girl with long, straight and wavy dark raven hair, dark brown eyes and light olive skin walked over to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, you okay?" she asked in a low whisper.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Jasmine," Katie nodded dully, her expression unchanged and her eyes practically glazed over.
At that moment the teacher walked over to the television and turned it off.
"All right, class, back to your seats. That's enough news for today," he ordered.
The students then obeyed as they flocked back to their seats and sat down as they continued on their work without another word.
TLSTLSTLSTLS
The hours dragged by as the entire school was eerily silent and the students went about their business without uttering a single word to one another, except for a few scattered murmurs and whispers every now and then. Then when dismissal rolled around and the bus pulled in to pick up the students and take them home, the children boarded the vehicles without making a fuss as they got into their regular seats before the buses departed from the school and drove off for home.
Nearly an hour and a half later, Rhonda stepped into her flat with a frazzled and subdued look on her face as Beatrice looked up from the television screen with a bright smile.
"Hello, darling; how was your day at school today?"
"Fine," was all Rhonda mumbled before she slowly trudged up the stairs and disappeared into her room.
"What's the matter with her now?" Beatrice growled as she looked over at her husband, who had now entered the living room.
"It's those news reports from New York that's got her all shook up and bothered," Harold declared as Beatrice paled in shock and horror.
"My God, you don't mean those planes that crashed into the Twin Towers? There's no telling how many people might have been killed already."
"I'll bet it's those terrorists from the Middle East," Harold growled irascibly. "It's a declaration of war, I tell ya, Beattie."
"What kind of world are we bringing our little girl into, my love?" Beatrice frowned as she rubbed her swollen belly gingerly.
"Don't you worry, my darling wife. I won't let anything happen to you; you know that," Harold reassured her gently while sitting down next to her and pulling her into a hug.
"You don't think those fiends are going to try to attack our country next, do you?" Beatrice fretted.
"I would dare hope not, my love," Harold replied as he gave her a loving squeeze.
As Beatrice and Harold continued to have a private conversation in the living room, Rhonda was standing on the landing of the stairs as she peered through the banisters with an apprehensive and wary gaze.
A few hours later, everyone had already eaten dinner and they were now preparing to turn in for the evening. Rhonda was dressed in her pink pajamas as she was about to climb into bed with her favorite Simba plush doll and her Barney doll. Just then she heard a soft creak of her bedroom door as she saw Beatrice approaching her with a solemn expression.
"Sweetheart, I need to talk to you about something important," she said.
"What is it, Mum?" Rhonda frowned worriedly as the two walked over to her bed and sat down together.
Beatrice then exhaled sharply as she looked over at the young redheaded girl with a sorrowful and rueful expression.
"There is no easy way to say this, love… I just got a call from Katie's mum and she informed me that her nephew Ollie was killed in the Twin Tower attacks this morning. Your friend will not be going to school for at least a week because she will be flying to New York to attend his funeral."
"But how is she going to do that when all of the airports all over the States are shut down?" Rhonda inquired quizzically.
"Well, Jasmine's mum Esther was more than gracious enough to lend her private jet to Katie and her family so that they can get to New York as quickly as possible in order to make it to the funeral on time," Beatrice answered.
"Mum, do you think that Aunt Cassie and her kids are also okay? What if something also happened to them?" Rhonda fretted.
"I do not know sweetheart; I haven't heard anything about them," Beatrice sighed.
"I want to call Grandma first thing tomorrow just to make sure that they're okay," Rhonda declared in a determined and assertive voice.
"You are doing no such thing, Rhonda; besides, you have school tomorrow and you need to focus on that. I'll call Grandma and then I'll let you know what's going on," Beatrice retorted sternly as she motioned for Rhonda to climb into bed and then tucked her in. "Besides, you need to get some sleep."
"All right, Grandma," Rhonda groaned exasperatedly as she took off her glasses and placed them on the night table next to her.
Beatrice smiled at her tenderly before kissing her on the head softly.
"Good night, my love," she whispered before she turned off the light and then walked out of the room as she closed the door shut behind her.
TLSTLSTLSTLS
THAT SAME EVENING
MONTAUK, THE HAMPTONS, NEW YORK
Cassie was sitting in the living room as she was watching replays of the Twin Tower attacks on CNN while sipping on a cup of coffee with a stricken and petrified look on her face. Tiffany was in the master bedroom reading stories to her younger siblings as a way to get their mind of what had happened earlier that day.
Just then she heard a loud knock on the front door.
"Who could that be?" Cassie muttered to herself as she set the cup of coffee down on the table and walked over to the front door to answer it.
Moments later, she was surprised and astonished to see Tom standing in the doorway, looking disheveled, frazzled and looking quite winded.
"Oh thank merciful God!" Cassie exclaimed in a relieved voice as she threw her arms around him and embraced him tightly. "I thought that I lost you! When I couldn't get a hold of you for hours on end, I thought that you got lost in one of the burning towers and then when I saw them collapse, I was certain that you were dead! I…"
"It's all right, Cass; I'm here now," Tom reassured her calmly as he rubbed soothing and gentle circles on her back. "It's going to be all right."
"I don't know what I would do without you, Tom; I would rather die than spend the rest of my life without you," Cassie sobbed as she fought back tears while clinging fiercely to him.
"You won't have to, darling," Tom whispered with a tender smile as he kept on cradling her.
"Daddy!" Kiki screamed as she and her siblings bolted out of the hallway and raced over to hug their father.
Tiffany also embraced her father tightly with her body convulsing in relieved sobs.
"Daddy, you're all right! I was hoping that you were going to be all right!" she cried.
"I am now sweetheart, now that I'm reunited with the people that I love," Tom declared with a relieved and grateful smile of his own as he hugged his kids back.
No one dared breathe another word or sound as they continued to cling to each other tightly, not daring to let go for even a single second.
TLSTLSTLSTLS
TWO DAYS LATER…
SEPTEMBER 13TH, 2001
MOUNT ZION CEMETERY
MASPETH, QUEENS, NEW YORK
The sky was a cold, dreary and dismal grey as Katie was staring silently at the ground, not wanting to look at the casket in front of her. Many of her family members were sobbing and wailing loudly while clinging to each other as a couple of elderly rabbi was singing solemn hymns of prayer in Hebrew in Ollie's honor.
Katie then looked up briefly to see a large scale portrait of a smiling and beaming young man with short, dark auburn brown hair, light hazel green eyes, a stocky, lean and athletic build, and dashingly handsome and boyish good looks. He was wearing his standard FDNY uniform and he appeared to have a very proud and joyful expression on his face.
It was then that Katie turned around to see her mother Maryann and her older sister Sherry console Ollie's grief-stricken widow as she was overcome with distraught and hysterical sobs while holding her infant son and with her two older children huddled close to her, looking quite lost and fearful.
"I don't know what I'm going to do without him, Maryann," she wailed. "I don't know how we're even going to go on without him. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. It wasn't supposed to be like this."
"It's all right, Hannah; we're all here for you no matter what. We're going to help you in any way that we can," Maryann reassured her.
Hannah just nodded and sniffled as the two women hugged and she buried her face in her left shoulder, still fighting back angry tears.
TLSTLSTLSTLS
The following afternoon, Katie and her family were at Hannah and Ollie's house as they were sitting Shiva with the rest of the family. Many of the guests were talking softly in hushed and quiet voices while eating some of the snacks left on the table. However, Katie just remained sitting on the couch with a listless and blank stare, not even wanting to eat.
"Hey, aren't you going to eat anything?" her twin brother Kevin asked.
"No… I'm not very hungry," Katie mumbled dully.
"All right then," Kevin shrugged as he went over to grab a couple of crackers before stuffing them into his mouth.
Katie then just continued to sit on the couch without another word as she ruminated over a particularly horrific and disturbing nightmare that she had the night before.
Katie was standing in front of the Marriot World Trade Center as she saw that the building above her was on fire.
"Ollie! Ollie!" she screamed as she looked around frantically in search of him. "Ollie!"
Then before she knew it, she saw Ollie standing right in front of the entrance as he was busy ushering the guests out of the burning building as they were running for their lives.
"Ollie, what are you doing? You need to get out of there! The building is going to fall!" Katie cried.
"I can't, little cuz! I have to save these people!" Ollie insisted as he turned around to look at her.
"But you got a wife and three kids at home! They need you! I need you! Kevin needs you!" Katie insisted stubbornly, tears glistening in her eyes.
"I can't just leave these people to die! I need to do everything I can to save them! Just go, Katie! I'll be fine!" Ollie shot back as he turned around to head back to the entrance.
"No… I won't let you… Ollie, no! Come back! You can't go in there! Ollie, come back! The building is going to fall! The building is going to fall!"
Then just as she says this, a loud roar erupted above them as a huge cloud of metal and steel came crashing down and it was plummeting straight at Ollie.
"Katie, run!" Ollie yelled as he soon realized that the falling debris was going to come tumbling down on top of him.
"No! Ollie, no!" Katie screamed as she watched her cousin disappear into a pile of rubble.
Katie then suddenly got up as she leaped off the couch and rushed out the door in a swift panic; she raced out of her cousin's house frantically as she headed out in the direction of Lower Manhattan.
I got to find him… he's got to be buried in that rubble somewhere. I got to save him… If only I can get to him…
TLSTLSTLSTLS
THAT SAME AFTERNOON…
THE PETRIE RESIDENCE
BRENTWOOD, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
Elena walked into the living room looking quite exhausted and frazzled as she went over to the couch and collapsed on it.
"Hey, El; how was work?" Horatio asked as he entered the living room and sat down next to her.
"Not good, H; those children are so traumatized. I just can't believe that something like this would happen on our own soil. All those poor families… I can't even imagine…" Elena sighed. "At least Cassie and her family are okay, thank God."
"Yeah; it's amazing that Tom got out of there when he did. Who knows what could've happened if he had gotten trapped in one of those towers and wasn't able to escape?" Horatio replied.
"Ugh, perish the thought," Elena exhaled sharply while rubbing her forehead sorely.
Just then, the phone began to ring and Elena glanced over at it with a curious expression.
"Huh, I wonder who that could be?" she murmured as she picked up the phone and answered.
"Hello, who is this?" she announced.
"Grandma, is that you?" Rhonda's voice piped in.
"Oh, hello, sweetheart," Elena's face brightened upon hearing her granddaughter's voice. "How are you?"
"Are Auntie Cassie and her family okay? They're not all dead, are they?" Rhonda demanded anxiously.
"Of course everyone's fine, sweetheart; you don't need to worry. Now how was school?" Elena smiled.
"Not good; I miss Katie. She's going to miss school for a whole week because her cousin was killed in the attacks and she had to fly to New York for his funeral," Rhonda answered.
"Oh my, that's awful. Well I'm sure that when she comes back that you're going to make her feel welcome and safe by giving her a big hug," Elena frowned at Rhonda's answer as she tried to put on a brave face.
"Oh, I will, Grandma," Rhonda giggled with a grin.
"Talk to you later, honey; bye," Elena added before she hung up and put the phone back into the receiver.
"So I take it that Jewish girl Rhonda's friends with has lost someone?" Horatio quipped.
"A cousin, yes," Elena nodded. "I can't even imagine what must be going through those kids' minds having witnessed utter evil and destruction right before their very eyes. That's got to have some kind of effect on them."
"I agree, but as long as they got their parents to help them through it, they should be fine," Horatio concurred. "I wouldn't worry too much about it, El."
"I hope that you're right, Horatio," Elena sighed sadly as she got up and turned towards the direction of the kitchen. "Anyways, I hope you're hungry. I was planning on making something really scrumptious for tonight."
"Boy, do I ever!" Horatio grinned as he became excited at the notion of eating a home-cooked meal of Elena's. "Lead the way, Elena."
Elena chuckled softly as she led Horatio straight into the kitchen as she was getting ready to make dinner.
TLSTLSTLSTLS
MEANWHILE…
MANHATTAN SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT PRECINCT
MANHATTAN, NEW YORK
A young woman with short, wavy dark brown hair and dark brown eyes was sitting at her desk while mulling over a small stack of paperwork, tapping a pencil on her face thoughtfully. A young dark-haired man with brooding good looks and bright blue eyes approached her desk with a smile as he tapped on it softly.
"Hey, Liv; how's it going?" he asked.
"Fine; just got some paperwork to catch up on," the woman answered.
"Wow, those last couple of days sure have been crazy, haven't they?" a middle-aged skinny and lanky Jewish man with black sunglasses and short, dark grey hair walked over with a grim and thin line. "I can't believe that after all of that Internal Affairs still insisted that we have to stay behind to catch up on some needless paperwork. I mean, a week off isn't going to kill anybody…"
"Hello? I need help! Is there anybody here to help me? I need help here!" a female voice hollered shrilly as everyone turned around to see a middle-aged redheaded woman dashing into the office looking quite flustered and panicked.
"What seems to be the problem here, ma'am?" the younger dark-haired man asked her.
"Excuse me, sir, but are you the one in charge here?" Maryann demanded.
"Ma'am, my name is Detective Elliot Stabler, this is my partner Olivia Benson and this is also Detective John Munch; now I would like to know what your name is and why you're here," Elliot replied calmly while gesturing over to the brunette woman sitting on the desk and the gray-haired bespectacled man standing near her.
"My name is Maryann Rosenberg and I have a 10-year-old autistic daughter that has disappeared from my nephew's house and I have no idea where she's gone!" Maryann wailed.
"Okay, Ms. Rosenberg, just calm down and just tell me when you last saw her and what exactly was she wearing…" Olivia instructed her gently.
"Well, we're here from London because my sister Sheila's youngest son Oliver died in the Twin Tower attacks about two days ago and we just had the funeral at Mount Zion Cemetery. We were sitting Shiva at the house that my nephew shared with his wife and children and all I remember was that I was talking with my sister and my niece-in-law while my children were sitting on the couch and then the next thing I knew, I turned around and Katie wasn't there! I don't know what to do, officer! I'm afraid that something might happen to her!" Maryann explained in a rambling and distraught voice.
"Don't worry, Ms. Rosenberg; we're going to do everything that we can to find her," Olivia reassured her.
"Please do, detective," Maryann sighed dejectedly with a morose face. "I already lost someone that I love; I don't know if I can bear to lose another member of my family, especially my own child."
"Come on, guys; let's go! Time is wasting here!" Elliot barked as Olivia slipped on her brown leather jacket and the detectives soon headed out of the office in search of the missing girl.
A short time passed and Olivia, Munch and Elliot were walking through the hazy and deserted streets of Lower Manhattan while scanning the area for any sign of the redheaded girl.
"No sign of her," Elliot said.
"She can't have gotten too far," Olivia frowned.
"Well, if she's that upset about her cousin dying, perhaps she could have gone to the one place that might remind her of him," Munch mused.
"Wait… you don't mean that…" Elliot balked as he started to slowly realize what Munch might have meant by his statement. "You can't possibly think that…"
"I think I might have just figured out exactly where she is. Come on!" Olivia declared as she ran straight into the direction of the World Trade Center.
It wasn't long before the detectives arrived at the area where the Twin Towers used to stand and they saw a small figure standing right near the pile of rubble near a group of construction workers.
"Over there! There she is!" Elliot yelled as he and his colleagues raced straight towards Katie and then saw that she was watching the group of construction workers digging through the debris with a detached and emotionless look in her eyes.
"Katie, Katie! Sweetheart! Katie!" Olivia bellowed as she and the detectives walked over to Katie and she grabbed her hand while looking at her. "We are police officers from the Manhattan Special Victims Unit. Your mom's been worried sick about you."
Katie just said nothing as she looked right at her before turning back to the group of workers still digging through the rubble.
"It should've been me…" she said. "I should have been the one that died, not Ollie."
"What's that you say, sweetheart?" Olivia frowned, not understanding what she was hearing.
"Ollie had a whole life ahead of him. He had a wife and a family that needed him and depended on him. I'm just a stupid, dumb weirdo that everyone makes fun of at school," Katie continued, still staring out into space.
"Well, that might have been true about Ollie, but I'm sure that you also have a lot of people that care about you. Your mom and dad, maybe some siblings and cousins and perhaps even some of your friends at school," Olivia replied in an encouraging voice.
"Nobody at school really cares about me; just Rhonda, Luthor and Jasmine. They're the only friends that I actually have," Katie shrugged.
"Then those are the people that should matter to you," Munch retorted. "You really shouldn't care about what anyone else says. They are just a bunch of dumb kids that don't know any better. Besides, your cousin died a hero and that's something to be proud of. He gave his very life just so you and everyone else in this country can continue to enjoy your freedoms and rights."
"I suppose you're right, Mr. Detective," Katie mused while glancing over at him uncertainly.
"Just call me Munch, kid," Munch chuckled with a soft smile.
"Katie? Katie? Are you there?" a female voice hollered from a distance and Katie was surprised to see her mother running right towards her.
"Oh my God, Katie, you scared me half to death!" Maryann cried as she threw her arms around her and pulled her into a fierce and tight hug. "Don't you ever go running off like that again, do you hear me, sweetheart! I can't bear losing you too!"
"I'm so sorry, Mommy; I shouldn't have run off like that! I just got scared and overwhelmed, that's all!" Katie apologized profusely as she hugged her mother back.
"Thank you so much for helping me find my daughter," Maryann said to the detectives while still holding her daughter in her arms. "Words cannot even express how much you three going above and beyond really meant so much to me in my time of need."
"Oh, it's no trouble at all, ma'am; now I assume that you and your daughter won't be having any trouble getting back home, right?" Elliot replied.
"Of course not; thank you again. Have a nice day," Maryann nodded in acknowledgement before she grabbed Katie's hand and they walked off to their car.
Elliot, Olivia and Munch exchanged bemused glances at each other before they started heading back to the precinct.
"Well that was quite an interesting afternoon," Elliot retorted.
"I for one can't wait to be in a place with fresh, clean air. This dust is really getting to me," Munch groaned as he started coughing rapidly.
"Yeah, let's get going," Olivia agreed with a nod.
Later on that evening, Katie was sleeping soundly in one of the guest bedrooms with Kevin as the entire room was filled with a peaceful yet calm silence. It was then that she awoke with a start as she looked up to see a ghostly apparition advancing towards her.
"Ollie?" she murmured softly.
"Hey, little cuz," Ollie smiled tenderly. "I came to see you one last time."
"Why did you have to die, Ollie? Why did you have to leave all of us behind?" Katie demanded with a stricken look in her eyes.
"Hey, it was simply my time, kid; you can argue with the big man upstairs about that one," Ollie shrugged. "But listen, I don't regret anything that I did. If I had to do it all over again, I would still go and save those people in a heartbeat. I had a great, happy life; I wouldn't want you or Ma or Hannah or anyone else to spend the rest of their lives mourning me because I happened to die young. You guys still have a life to lead and you need to live it. The best way to honor me is to live each day as if it might be your last with all of the joy and gratitude you can muster. You have only one life, kid; make the most of it."
"You really mean it, Ollie?" Katie gawked in awe.
"Of course, Katie. Just be a kid… be happy," Ollie beamed. "Don't let those bastards take your joy away from you. Life is meant for the living. Now be good for your ma and pops, you hear? Do whatever they tell you to do. And don't ever let anyone tell you that you aren't worth anything, because you always meant a lot to me."
"Okay," Katie nodded as tears glistened in her eyes with a single one rolling down her face.
"Now sleep tight, kiddo, and have happy dreams; I'll be watching over you all," Ollie added as he rubbed Katie's head tenderly and Katie lay down to go to sleep again.
She then rolled over on her right side to smile at Ollie as he waved back at her before he turned around and disappeared into the light. By the time Ollie was gone, Katie had fallen asleep once again as she had a peaceful and blissful smile on her face.
TLSTLSTLSTLS
A few days later, Katie flew back to London with Sherry, Kevin and her father Eugene as her mother had elected to stay behind in New York for the time being in order to help her Aunt Sheila look after Hannah and the kids. By the time Monday rolled around, Katie and Kevin were already back in class as Rhonda was ecstatic to see Katie entering the bus.
"Katie! Kevin! You're back!" Rhonda exclaimed happily as Katie and Kevin sat down in front of her.
"Hey, Rhonda; how are you and Luthor doing?" Katie asked.
"Well, it definitely wasn't the same without you, that's for sure," Rhonda beamed. "So how did everything go with the funeral?"
"Well, everything went fine. We had the burial and then we ended up sitting Shiva at Ollie and Hannah's house… and I may or may not have freaked out and bolted out of the house so that I can go to the spot where the Twin Towers fell in order to find my cousin's body among the remains…"
"What? Are you crazy?!" Rhonda balked in horror and disbelief. "What in the world even possessed you to do that in the first place?!"
"I don't know, Rhonda! I wasn't thinking, all right?!" Katie shot back as the two girls shot ugly glares at each other before they descended into a heated row.
"Oh boy, here we go again," Luthor groaned with an eye roll as he slumped back into his seat.
The bus then continued on its usual route as Rhonda and her friends awaited another exciting day at school, eager to put the events of the last week behind them.
The End.