The day America stood still. September 11, 2001. 8:45 am, a plane crashes into one of the twin towers. He felt it even before he was told. The pain in his chest. Alfred fell off the couch, holding his heart. He felt like he was burning. The phone rang like crazy but he couldn't hear it very well. His ears rang and his throat seemed like it was closing up. Tears streamed down his face and he sobbed. Alfred was in pain, he felt the pain of his people.
9:03. He felt it again. Pain, suffering, his ears started ringing. That was when the second plans hit the other tower. Everything seemed to slow as he laid on the floor, holding his heart. The burning feeling still lingered. Alfred wanted it to be over. He reached toward the remote and turned on the television. He cried harder when he saw that the biggest symbol of New York had been hit.
9:43, a plane hit the Pentagon. Alfred's whole body shook and he felt blood on the hand that was holding his chest. He cried for his people and he cried for himself. He felt smoke in his lungs and started to cough, trying to cry out for help. 10:05 he felt the worse of it. The South Tower shook and burnt violently as it collapsed to the ground. The pain increased and he felt like every bone in his body was broken.
It was just five minutes later that a large portion of the Pentagon caved in. Alfred felt helpless, his people were dying and the city seemed to be burning and he couldn't do anything. 10:28 am. The World Trade Center's north tower collapses from the top down as if it were being peeled apart, releasing a tremendous cloud of debris and smoke. Alfred watched the television, hearing the screams from the people and the news crew as they filmed it with a steady camera. Alfred surely felt like it was the end. As he closed his eyes he could faintly hear someone calling his name.
"... Bloody hell.. Alfred..!! Oh my god... Alfred!! Wake up! Please!" Arthur shook Alfred's body, tears falling from his emerald eyes. Alfred was unconscious, barely breathing.
Fear. Pain. Arthur, along with so many other felt like it was all over.
...
15 years after, Americans still cried and military officers bowed their heads. The memorial was packed with people that morning. The families of the lost were making speeches and a bell rang in respect. Where the towers fell was a giant park and a large building. Even though it would never replace the original towers, it was a symbol all the same. Alfred was there, all his cuts and broken bones healed by the spirit and strength of his people. Dread was in the air, but there was also hope. Newborn babies swaddled in blankets held close to their mothers showed new life.
Alfred stood in the crowd, undercover, no one needed to know of his true identity. Tears fell from his bright blue eyes as he heard a little girl talk about her father who was a firefighter lost in the attack. He barely noticed a hand place on his shoulder. Alfred turned around and locked eyes with green ones. Arthur stood there with sad eyes and open arms. Alfred buried himself into his chest and cried.
Arthur always knew that 9/11 was a hard day for America and Alfred usually took the worst of it. Being a country, he could feel the pain of his people mentally and physically. Arthur had always been there for him, he made sure to fly over every year to be there for him.
There was a second of... Ignorance so to speak. Before the second plane hit, it was an accident. People everywhere were glued to their televisions, hoping to hear more. When the second plane hit, everyone saw it. It wasn't a moment of when, it was a moment of if. In the split second, it was no longer an accident, it was an attack. It was an attack against all of America. The planes may have hit New York and The Pentagon, but they truly hit everyone.
America's back. The towers wouldn't stop them. The goal was to weaken America, but they only strengthened the country as a whole.
Alfred noticed the patriotism, the firefighters running to help, the mayor of New York himself putting on a mask and dodging debris as he helped with the wreckage. It was a morning of death and darkness but it ended up becoming a memory of hope and light.
Alfred knew that he wasn't alone, he had the support of his friends and he people, and he wanted to make sure no one ever forgot that day.
...
I know it wasn't an X reader but I just wanted to write that in honor of this sad yet hopeful day. I myself wasn't there to remember it because I was just a baby, but I feel the effects of 9/11 all the same.
I hope you all have a wonderful day and focus of the positives.
Goodbye. 💖💕
#alwaysremember9/11
#wewillneverforget