When he heard the news, he just couldn't believe it. Stunned wasn't the right word for how he felt that day... in fact Captain Riley Finn didn't have a word to describe it. His eyes were glued to the screen right after the first plane hit.

By the time the second hit, he was on the phone with the brass. The team was being deployed. Not to the jungles of South America, not to the frozen wastes of Antarctica. No. This time they were headed to New York City to help with the rescue efforts.

Graham grimly donned his gear and shouldered his pack. His throat was tight and he felt numb all over, this couldn't be happening... Not here in the US of A. He'd been to war-torn countries and fought evil both human and not, but nothing had chilled him as much as watching the twin towers of the World Trade Center collapse.

He walked into the ready room and his eyes met those of his oldest friend and commander. No words had to be spoken between the two men; they understood what had to be done. He clapped one hand down on Riley's shoulder briefly and then moved on, leading their men out to the waiting transport vehicles.

Those vehicles took them to the airfield, to the waiting C5's. Each man filed grimly into the bellies of the planes, buckling into their seats in almost complete silence. Some had lost friends and families in this attack on American soil. Riley noted a few shocked faces and he touched each on the shoulder. In most cases he got a small nod, or a half-hearted smile which was exactly what he expected.

His men were behind him all the way.

No matter what they found...

Graham took his seat and buckled up as well. He sighed heavily, resigning himself to what was ahead. The briefing had read like a bad horror film, bodies scattered here and yon, fires and smoldering rubble, gas leaks and untold horrors everywhere. He briefly dropped his head, then looked up and down the line of soldiers. Alpha Company's XO was proud of their outward composure but he knew their pain and anger well.

When Riley took a seat next to him, Graham turned his head and softly asked, "You okay? Have you spoken with your family?"

"Yeah, they're all safe. Maureen called in sick today; otherwise, she would have been at ground zero. But that's a risk you take working at the Pentagon." Riley buckled up, staring straight ahead as he listened for the engines to start. "Yours?"

"Tom was supposed to fly home from Boston today, he changed his mind at the last minute. Thank God for my little brother's indecision this once. The others are good; Mom's worried about us, like always. She sends her love." He grinned at his friend briefly and settled back in his seat as best he could. Transport planes were not built for comfort. They were meant simply to carry live bodies to retrieve or replace the fallen ones.

Riley ran through contingency plans, sorted out in his head all the medical supplies they would need. Triage was going to be a big responsibility. Thankfully, there were teams being flown in from all over the country. His field medic skills would be brought into play but Riley suspected what would help him the most was the residual effects of Maggie's genetic tampering. Strength, speed, the ability to breathe even the worst air... all those things would help immensely.

Graham quietly ran through his own thoughts, search and rescue, triage, possible guard duty for looters. He grimaced at the last thought but knew it was a viable threat even in a tragedy with the magnitude of this.

"Not going to be pretty." He mumbled, mostly to himself.

"Yeah... Ugly as sin, Gray." Riley closed his eyes, doing what he did best in preparation for a crisis. He controlled his breathing, sending himself into a deep trance and then to sleep.

Graham tried to relax too and finally found his fatigue taking over. He slept too, only to be jarred awake when the plane touched down. Opening his eyes, Graham stretched, grimacing as he found a kink in his back.

"Ry? We're here." He said gently shaking his buddy's arm.

Awake in an instant, Riley unbuckled his seatbelt and rose to his feet. Graham shook his head, it never ceased to amaze him how Riley could do that. How he could go from a dead sleep to fully alert in two seconds flat.

Captain Riley Finn looked over his men and spoke using a tone of quiet command, "Listen up, we are under the command of the National Guard for this trip. We do what they say, when they say it. Understood?" Everyone nodded in agreement; no one raised a single question.

Graham followed his commander from the plane and stood to the side has the rest of their men filed out and regrouped on the tarmac. "All present and accounted for, Captain." He looked at Riley and stood at attention. The base looked normal, they hadn't seen the carnage and destruction yet.

That was still to come.

Riley supervised the move from the plane to the vehicles. He and Graham swung up into the cab of the deuce and a half and nodded to the driver. Without a single word, the driver started the vehicle, sending them down the road into what only could be described as a war zone.

Graham looked around with growing horror and fought the urge to retch at the smell of smoldering debris and the occasional signs of death and they weren't even close yet. He steadied himself, looked back at the others, some were staring glassy eyed, and others were not looking at all. He knew when the truck stopped they would snap to down to a man.

Right now, it was time to look and be horrified. He noticed one young soldier's mouth moving quietly and realized the young man was praying. **We can use all the prayers we can get.** Graham thought, then looked at Riley and tried to figure what was running through his friend's mind as they rode through the rubble.

**Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death...** Riley's gaze swept the torched landscape. He'd been in Bosnia, had spent time in Rwanda as well as several other hot spots. This couldn't be America that he was seeing... Yet it was. He wet his lips and cleared his throat, whispering to himself, "I shall fear no evil. For thou art with me, Lord."

Finally the truck couldn't go any further forward and the driver stopped. For as far as the eye could see, everything was covered with a white dust like volcanic ash. A few bedraggled police and rescue workers stood nearby, clearly exhausted and relieved to see help arrive.

**Yea, though I walk...** Graham started the litany of prayer in his own head and waited to follow Riley off the deuce and half.

The troops fanned out through the rubble, walking carefully and listening for any sounds of life. Mason was the first to find something, a faint scratching from under a pile of rubble. His shout brought Riley and Graham to his side double-time.

Riley dropped to his knees, gloved hands digging through the rubble where Mason indicated. Head down, shifting huge pieces of concrete, he concentrated on that faint sound.

Graham fell beside Riley and began to dig too; gently lifting concrete away bit by bit. When they had made a sizeable hole he called out, "Can you hear me? Is anyone down there?" The answering tapping caused both men to double their efforts to reach whoever was buried beneath them. "Mace? Go find shovels... and hurry!"

Riley gritted his teeth, wiping dust out of his eyes. "Gray, give me a hand with this?" He didn't wait for an answer, simply gripped a twisted hunk of metal and started to lift. As it cleared the ground, Riley spotted a hand waving feebly in the darkness below. "Hang on, we see you. Help is on the way."

Graham scrambled to help Riley lift the beam away and then was back on his knees. He dropped onto his stomach and reached down to touch the feeble hand.

"We're here...you are going to be okay. Just hang on." Graham heard a choked sob as that hand clutched at him wildly then relaxed enough to let him scoot back. He continued digging alongside Riley who was shifting rubble like it was going out of style. Mason rejoined them with several other men and they started to shovel more of the debris away.

When the opening had been enlarged enough, Graham dropped back down onto his stomach and clicked on the flashlight Riley handed him. In the shaft created by falling debris, Graham found himself looking into the lifeless eyes of a man and the tear-streaked face of a young woman. Her lower body was pinned by a mass of concrete.

"Hey," he said softly, "What's your name?... We'll have you out soon... Can you feel your legs?"

"Annie... Annie Simmons. Yes, they hurt... Help my friend first though, please. He stopped talking about 20 minutes ago." Her voice was ragged and exhausted.

Riley nodded to Graham, clipping a line around his own waist. "Lower me in, Gray... We have to get her loose."

Graham nodded and wrapped the line around a sturdy looking girder sticking up out of the rubble. "Okay Annie, this is Riley and he's going to help you." He told the frightened woman in the most as even a tone as he could muster. Graham Miller didn't have the heart to comment on her companion; the young man was beyond their help now.

He wondered briefly if the dead man wasn't better off than the poor woman trapped beneath them. But where there was life, there was hope. "My name's Graham, you can call me Gray." Holding onto the line tightly, Graham watched as Riley descended slowly into the narrow shaft.

His feet slipped a little on the uneven surface but Riley made it safely down. He knelt next to the young woman, checking her vitals quickly. Pulse erratic but strong, pupils even and undialated, no sign of concussion.

"We'll get you both out of here. I promise. So Annie Simmons, native of New York?" As he spoke in that low soothing tone, the big man shifted some of the larger pieces of rubble off her legs. Broken, probably in several places, right ankle crushed... pulse strong though.

She nodded, trying to reach across the pile of broken cement to her companion. "Brian, Brian... help is here. Brian?" Annie looked up at Riley, fresh tears flowing down her face. "He's dead, isn't he?"

When Riley nodded, her eyes closed, more tears slipping out from underneath the lids. "I thought so..."

"Whatcha need Ry?" Graham called as Mason trained the light into the shaft. "You need a basket? Or do you have room for one?" He was bracing the line just in case the shifting pile of rubble Riley was kneeling on gave way. It wouldn't do to lose his best buddy in this mess. He motioned other team members into position in order to lower a litter down to their commander.

"I got room. Need one of you down here with me to lift Annie up." Riley peered up at Gray for a second before going back to work on the last few pieces of concrete. Annie shifted a little, moaning at the pain in her legs. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, murmuring, "Easy, easy... Just a few more minutes, only a few more... Gray, get down here."

Graham motioned Mason to take his place on Riley's line. He quietly instructed Fitzgerald to hold a line for him as he lowered himself over the lip of the shaft and made his way down. When his feet touched, Graham knelt beside the woman and looked up at Riley, "Okay, I'm here buddy. Let's do this."

Then he turned to Annie, "Hey, I'm going to need you to close your eyes for a moment okay? We're gonna make some dust." When she obeyed, he looked back at Riley, "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Riley's mouth was set in a firm line and together they lifted the very last piece of rubble. Moving as a team, the two men shifted her carefully into the litter that had been lowered after Graham. The pain that movement caused her tore right through both of them but it couldn't be helped. They had to get her out of there.

Once she was in place, Riley covered her with a blanket while Graham strapped her in place. Before the soldiers waiting above lifted her out of the darkness, Annie raised her hand to touch Riley's face. She smiled, whispering, "God bless you."

"May the angels walk beside you, Annie." Captain Finn smiled back at her and signaled his men to lift her out of that hole. As the litter went up, Riley tilted his head to one side. "Gray, do you hear that? Over there?"

Graham nodded, "Sounds like another one. Hang on a second, something I gotta do." He jerked his head in the direction of Annie's companion. Then kneeling again, he closed the man's staring eyes. "Rest well, Brian. Annie's safe now." Graham got back to his feet and moved with Riley toward the faint sound.

Moving through the gloom, Riley shone his light into the darkness and was the first to spot another person huddled in the dark. "Hey... are you okay?"

A feeble voice answered, "I think so, but I don't dare move... there are three of us back here..."

"Okay, don't move...we'll come to you." Graham looked at Riley then crouched down, half-crawling toward the huddled group. "It's going to be okay, just follow us back out. We are going to get you out, we can't stay here. It's too dangerous." He held out his hand toward the nearest person and slowly drew a trembling older man out of the shadows.

Riley helped the next person out, an elderly lady who clutched the hand of a very young boy. That boy looked up at him, mouth open in wonder, "S'cuse me, mister... But are you G. I. Joe?"

The big man smiled, crouching down next to the awe-struck child. He nodded in confirmation, "Yup, that would be me, son. How are you? Hurt?" While he spoke, Riley did a visual check of both the boy and his older companion. Banged up but not too bad, which was amazing all things considered.

"Not hurt, sir. My Nana's a little tired... Can we go home now?" Hero worship was clear in the boy's dark eyes, right alongside with hope. His eyes darted from Riley to Graham and then back.

"Yes, you can go home. Let my friends help you out and check you over, okay? Can you do that for me, little man?" Riley resisted the urge to ruffle the boy's hair. He looked so much like his littlest nephew that he felt his throat tighten.

The boy nodded silently and then held his hands out to him. Riley glanced at the elderly woman who nodded gratefully. Very carefully, Riley picked him up, cradling the boy in his arms.

"Let's get you out of here, okay?" Crouching over to move through the narrow passageway, Riley kept the boy's face turned away as they passed Brian's body. No need to let this child see any more than he already had.

Graham followed and stayed behind as the elderly couple and the little boy were lifted out. He watched them go up, then caught the final litter and lifted the dead man into it. "Okay partner. It's your turn to go home..." He carefully strapped the body in and motioned for Mason and Fritz to lift it out. When the litter had disappeared over the edge, Graham gave one last look around and called out, "Okay, coming up."

Riley watched as Graham was helped up out of the hole. This had been a victory amidst so much tragedy. Hopefully, they would have a few more of these tonight. Saying a silent prayer for the fallen, Riley waited until he felt the tug on this line and he started to climb up out of the rubble.

Once he was above ground, Captain Finn motioned his men to spread out again. Time was of the essence; every second counted and could make the difference between life and death.

Graham moved off to the left and had only gone a couple paces when he stumbled over a beam and fell sprawling, landing inches away from a nasty looking piece of rebar. **Okay... Not good Gray!**

He got to his feet and brushed off his knees, looking around him and spotting something nearby. It looked like a blanket? "Oh God! Ry? I think we've got another one." Swallowing hard, Graham approached the tattered scrap of material and felt his world lurch, because a tiny dust covered hand was peeping out from one side. Steeling himself and reaching out, he moved the blanket and almost fainted with relief when the plastic eyes of a doll looked up at him.

"Never mind." He choked out, sitting down shaken.

The same relief washed through Riley when he saw the doll. He chucked Graham in the shoulder, his smile a white flash in a world of gray. "Good eyes, buddy..." They heard another cry of pain and raced over to another rescue site. This was going to be one long ass night.

The team worked feverishly and managed to pull another young man to safety. Then they started to dig again for his companions that he was sure were somewhere nearby. Graham was still shaken from the doll and when an arm nearly swatted him in the face, he gave a yelp of surprise. With a shake of his head, he was back together. Between he and Riley they dug the body out and helped the National Guardsmen load it into a body bag.

As the night wore on the body count rose and they were beginning to lose hope. Survivors were coming fewer and farther between. Graham sat down beside Riley while they watched a rescue dog trained to locate bodies sniff around yet another pile of rubble. "How many you think are still in there?" He asked, leaning his head into dust covered hands.

"Dunno, Gray, but we won't stop until we've found them all." Riley wiped his hand across his forehead, managing to do nothing more than smear more dust across his face. After a few more minutes, the dog barked sharply, a sound which sent Riley to his feet immediately. "C'mon, buddy... Duty calls."

"Right behind you." Graham said, pushing off from his seat and following him. The dog found a living person this time, a young pregnant woman. Who miraculously wasn't too badly hurt, but threw them a curve by going into early labor induced from the trauma and shock of being trapped in the wreckage.

Graham shared a quiet chuckle with Riley at this turn of events, "Proof life most go on, huh buddy?" Lt. Miller then returned his focus to helping the woman with a breathing exercise until the paramedics were able to wheel her away.

That was one of their last victories that night.

As the sun rose over the changed landscape of what had been the most famous skyline in the world, Riley Finn felt the urge to weep. The devastation wreaked less than 24 hours ago would be felt for years to come and would remain in the hearts of a generation of Americans.

A generation that had known no war...

Until it came to American soil.

And this was just the beginning.

He stood there in the early light. The tears he held at bay all night streamed down his face as Riley said a quiet prayer for the world. "Our father, who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name..."

Finis