Never Forget

A/N: First off, let me please make it clear that I have no grudges against the Muslim faith. I understand that the religion as a whole did not commit this crime, just a few insane people. And whether you believe 9/11 was a conspiracy or not is up to you. My mom thinks it's a conspiracy while my dad doesn't, so I'm open to both options. Either way, this event was horrible and not something to be made light of.

Screams filled Alfred's ears as dust and smoke coated his lungs, blocking out his airway - stopping his breath. He couldn't breathe. He was going to die. This was his end. The burning pain in his chest was like a fire consuming him whole. A raging fire in the darkness that wanted nothing but to destroy him, the Big Satan.

A loud beeping was heard, startling Alfred awake and out of the nightmare. He panted slightly as he looked around his room, making sure that there were no metal beams and smoke. Sweat dripped from his forehead as he gently rubbed his side, a dull pain radiating through him.

The beeping continued as Alfred looked to the side of his bed, his alarm commanding him to get up. With a heavy sigh, he crawled out of bed and got ready for this tiring day. Alfred had a routine for this day, every year for eighteen years now. And today would be no different from any other.

~*~*~

"Mr. Jones, so glad you able to come so soon," An executive said with his grateful smile as he walked next to Alfred. Alfred almost wanted to chuckle at the fake gratitude; the man was only happy that he would no longer have to do any of the work. They walked up to the top offices where Alfred would be working, Alfred nodding to some of the workers they passed.

"We've had some problems with a few of the imports and no one knows what to do with them."

Alfred rolled his eyes as he stepped into his large office, "Alright, I'll see what I can do."

The executive smiled and nodded as he started walking away, going back to the elevators. Alfred shook his head as he sat at his desk and looked at the papers with a sigh. There was a mountain here...

His boss told him to come here today because work was starting to back up and hurting the stocks or something. He shouldn't have, but Alfred started drowning out his boss after he heard about the paperwork he'd have to do. Why couldn't he send someone else instead? There were already so many things Alfred had to do. Like the World Meeting tomorrow, the other countries would start arriving in New York today and he promised them last week that he'd show them around.

He picked up his phone as he called England to let everyone know that they were on their own until tonight. A sigh left him as he listened to the ringing of the phone; he had really wanted to go out with the other countries during his one free day...

Alfred started going through the paperwork after the call, his glasses resting on the desk as he read over the problems. This wasn't in his job description... This was way below his pay grade. And yet here he was, slaving over more paperwork that he really didn't need. Just lovely.

He couldn't even go to breakfast with the cute brunette that he met at a coffee shop last week, he had to cancel on her and he was really irked now because of that. He had been looking forward to that breakfast for so long-

Alfred felt the pain in his head before anything else, a sharp twinge right at the front of his skull that knocked him back in his chair with how sudden it hit. But once the shock of that passed, he felt his office shaking, barely noticing that the power had gone out. Placing a hand on his head, he stood up and stumbled his way to the door.