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The last time such horror seized him only in childhood.There was a time when Alfred did not know that people like him did not have to be afraid of ordinary death – the forest that grew behind the small Plymouth settlement frightened him, inspired fear in him. The kind woman to whom England had entrusted the care of him – he did not remember her face, only the gentle warmth of her hands – strictly forbade him to go there, shaking her finger and prophesying about the "wild redskins", who would catch him and eat him alive – and he looked at her with his sky-blue eyes, clutching a toy in his hands, and wondered who they were, these redskins, and why they needed to eat him.He remembered about the redskins only when he got lost in this forest, joyfully chasing a squirrel.While he circled in search of a path to home, the stars had already lit up in the sky – and he could no longer even see his fists, pressed to his eyes, wiping tears away. It was dark and scary – not a soul around, no one went to his plaintive cry; and only when the sobs subsided, only then did he remember what his nanny had told him; only then a cold horror pierced him to the very bones.Every rustle, every crack that he heard made him jump out of his skin. Unknown sounds in pitch darkness – a danger that was everywhere and nowhere; he wanted to scream – but he was afraid; wanted to rush away – but his blood ran cold at the thought that he did not know where to run. The child's consciousness drew monsters that were sneaking up on him from all sides, close, close, ready to cling to him with sharp claws – he could not see them, it was impossible to hide from them. He did not remember how he fell asleep from sheer exhaustion; only how the next morning he was found and brought to the settlement by a local carpenter.On another day, almost seventy years ago, his shock was just as great – but hardly the same could be said of his fear. The enemy that struck him on the islands many thousands of miles away was clear and open, as the rising sun that shone on his banner. He rose to his full height on the other side of the ocean, fighting like a die-hard, when he did come after him – but now...Planes did not drop bombs on distant islands – planes rammed skyscrapers in his very heart.HorrorThe airliner pierced the second tower, black smoke and flames escaped in clouds.
Horror
The tower crushed like a house of cards, grinding life under concrete slabs and metal.
HORROR
The Pentagon was attacked, tower number seven lied in ruins, ash and smoke covered Manhattan, people are crying and running in panic, scary, scary, SCARY –The next few days formed one big, sticky lump in his memory.The Secret Service guided Alfred out of the house into the hideout; remonstrance that he should get to Manhattan was not listened to whatsoever, and when they realized that he would now try to scatter everyone and break through, he was informed that they were acting according to the protocol agreed with the President, and they threatened to use special tools if he’d continue to resist. Several hours of nervous walking from side to side under the direct broadcast of the TV, the horror of millions of beating hearts, he must be there, he must be there, HE MUST BE THERE, video call from the President who arrived at the White House, with all the top officials of the state – and they finally let him go where he so desperately strove.Ashes and smoke clogged his lungs, dyed his hair grey. He was supposed to be here from the very beginning, working with rescuers, with firefighters – he was not afraid of fire, he could move multi-ton plates, punch walls with his fists, what the hell was he doing, wearing out the seat of his trousers in the bunker?! – dogs led him to the smells of bodies, finding only corpses. He continued to clear the rubble, not stopping for a minute when others were already falling from fatigue. He had to interrupt for a flight to the White House – there they brought him up to date, adding new details to the already familiar nightmare.That's how it was. Old acquaintances.Upon his return to New York, he decided to drop by home – for five minutes, just to change clothes – when suddenly, opening the door to a knock, he froze in place, not believing his eyes.“It's good that I managed to catch you”Ivan in a light autumn coat, with his palm lowered on the retractable handle of the suitcase – at first Alfred thought he was imagining it. But when Ivan timidly spread his arms for a hug, directing a serious purple gaze at him, any doubts disappeared – Alfred squeezed him impulsively, buried in his shoulder, and the familiar smell of tobacco and frost rushed into his nose.“Vanya” a convulsive exhalation; he pulled away just as abruptly, looked into his eyes. Something fluttered in his chest, painful and bittersweet.“I'm not interfering? Sorry for coming without an invitation. I couldn’t reach you”“God, what… No, of course not! Interfering, what are even talking about. Come in, don't stand there” He pulled him into the hallway, taking hold on the suitcase, putting it against the wall. Turned around. “How did you arrive? The airspace has just been reopened...”“I took off on the first flight” Ivan unbuttoned his coat. Something in Alfred’s chest tightened again, stronger this time. “Are you going somewhere now?”“Wha… no, I mean, yes” He was confused; he couldn't go to rest, he couldn't, not now. “Yes, I have to leave. Maybe for the entire day, maybe for two...” Alfred got nervous. Tousled his hair. “Can you wait for me here? When do you fly back?”“Whenever I want. Everything is fine, I'll wait” A short nod – Ivan took his hand. “I knew you'd be busy”“Oh, cool” Alfred breathed a sigh of relief – they’d still see each other. “The keys ... there are the keys, on the table. There are semis in the fridge, I know you hate them, but if anything, there's Walmart down the street...”“Alfred” Ivan said it with pressure. He cupped his face, lifting it. Despite his unwavering tone, his gaze was gentle. “I'm a big boy. I’ve visited you ten times. And I'll deal with everything myself” he drew near him.The kiss came out slow, gentle; Alfred drowned in him, as soon as their lips touched. How long have they… Ivan stepped back. Care and tenderness sparkled in the purple iris.“Go and don't worry about anything. I'll wait for you as long as it takes”A spark of joy blossomed in his chest, driving away the nightmare that corroded his soul at least for a moment – Alfred exhaled happily, leaving a quick, warm kiss for the last – and rushed outside, slamming the door behind him.***He was sent home from Ground Zero four days later, when he became fall-down exhausted.The pile of wreckage hardly got smaller – the ranks of police, firefighters and ambulances continued to encircle the disaster site, as did reporters with the inhabitants of Manhattan, who could not take their eyes off such a monstrous spectacle. The arrival of the President at the scene of the tragedy raised the spirits of rescuers and firefighters – and many of them, tired, set to work with renewed zeal – along with Alfred; his cell phone was bursting with calls and messages, but only Arthur and Matthew received an answer. Thanks to adrenaline, he spent several days without sleep and without rest – the blood was still pounding in his temples, not calming down, not subsiding. Fear and panic, anger, pain and determination spread under his skin, made his consciousness flare. Alfred clenched his teeth, tried not to think – the faster he worked, the sooner he would pull people out, someone could stay alive under a multi-ton heap of concrete and steel...Dead bodies – that was all they found under the rubble.The door closed with a click as he entered the dark apartment.It was suspiciously quiet inside – Alfred did not turn on the light, moving in the semi-darkness, carefully stepping on the floor. Fear stirred in his chest – what if there was no one in the apartment – but his eyes caught on the legs on the edge of the bed, which was visible behind the open bedroom door; approaching, he saw Ivan, who was dozing in his clothes with a book on his chest. The scarf lay nearby, hung on the back of a chair – Alfred remembered how happy he was when Ivan began to walk around his house with his neck open...Ivan looked so peaceful in his dream that Alfred could not help smiling – and decided not to wake him up.Ten minutes in the shower turned into almost an hour, when he stood staring at one point, unable to move, as hot water poured on the top of his head. The thought that he could stand here all day flickered palely at the edge of his consciousness – he reluctantly got out, without even bothering to dry himself properly, wrapped a huge towel around himself. He stepped out of the bathroom, but the clothes in the closet still left intact – he just sat on the sofa in the living room, hunched over as drops fell from his bangs, seeping into the soft upholstery.Here, by himself, the emotions he tried to suppress rose in his mind like ugly clouds of orange-black smoke.Click – the light fell on the wall of the corridor. Alfred only slightly moved his head when footsteps were heard. Ivan crossed the corridor, approached the living room – froze for a few seconds on the threshold, before approaching him and sitting on the sofa, bending one leg under him.Ivan quietly took his hand. Alfred allowed himself to bury his forehead in the crook of his shoulder while Ivan slowly stroked his hand. None of them spoke a word.“You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to” a soft whisper came in his ear.Alfred blew air out of his nose mockingly, not fully understanding why. Maybe because Ivan offered not to say anything to him, Alfred Jones, or maybe because everything that could already be said had already been said, had already been voiced by TV reporters and officials, and only feelings remained, a haze that seized his mind, mixing his thoughts.Alfred wanted to say, he wanted to say a lot – he opened and closed his mouth like a fish washed ashore, not knowing where to start.“The evacuation in the South Tower began when the plane crashed into the North one” It turned out quieter and weaker than he thought. “But then they decided to cancel it”A pause, while understanding seeped into consciousness – Ivan only sighed, heavily and quietly – and squeezed Alfred's hand tighter. He barely moved on his shoulder.“They wanted... they wanted to raise helicopters to remove people from the upper floors” He continued, not noticing how he squeezed Ivan's sleeve with his palm. “But there was a lot of smoke, and it, it was impossible, it was simply impossible to fly up... They jumped out. Because of fire. From the windows, they fell down. Then…then everything collapsed…”A large hand on his back stroked him up and down – Alfred did not stop.“I-I came as soon as I could. There were firefighters, rescuers – we started to pull out the wounded, we wanted to pull out the wounded, we thought someone was still alive... And volunteers – they were looking for their parents, children. Many slept right there, didn't go home, just lay down on the ground, or something like that. Because... what if you go away for a minute, take a break, and in this minute, in this minute, a person would die somewhere under the rubble, you understand? We searched, but we--we didn't find anyone”He did not notice how he began to sob.“And suddenly, suddenly, a teenage girl got through to us – she received a message from her father, that he was downstairs, and he was alive. He told her where he was, which tower, a specific place, a floor, one of the underground ones. We rushed there, but there... there was no one, not a single living soul. And then we realized that... that he sent a text before the collapse, but the network was overloaded, so the message came later... when the towers had already fallen” The words began to rain down, unstoppable. “Do you know…what else the boss said?” Fingers clenched on Ivan's sleeve. “This was Al-Qaeda. And they knew it was Al-Qaeda. They knew about the preparation of the attack, the CIA knew the pilots – they studied in San Diego, then they became terrorists, it was known, they told me themselves, they found all the hijackers in a couple of days, so they already had the information! And when I… when I asked, when I yelled at them, why the hell did this happen, they… they just pursed their lips, they just said that they did not share information, not with the FBI, not with the White House, with anyone! They just missed them!” – it hurt; Ivan squeezed him in his arms, tightly, while tears rolled down his cheeks in a stream. “All this… hell, three thousand people died when all this… could have been… prevented!”Alfred did not speak anymore, he bawled and howled, a large tremor hit him – the T-shirt on Ivan's shoulder was soaked through with moisture. Faces, on the streets, in the reports, in his mind – frightened, crying, terrified, lost loved ones, lost peace, here on his land... He breathed, quickly; he did not have enough air...“This shouldn't have happened... This shouldn't have happened, I let everyone down, it’s because of me, I, I...”“This is not true” Ivan made a sound for the first time since they started talking, moved for the first time – Alfred felt his fingers intertwined in his hair, felt how Ivan pressed them into the skin of his head, pushing him closer, tighter. “Eaglet… it happens. It's a pure nightmare, I can't imagine how hard it is for you right now. But sometimes... sometimes it happens, something terrible that no one could have foreseen...”“N-no, no...”“This happens, and... and there's simply nothing that could be done about it...”“That’s NOT TRUE!” Alfred recoiled, pressing his fists against Ivan’s shoulders with force, tears filling his eyes, mixing with rage. “This should not have happened, maybe with everyone else – yes, but not here, not with...”He did not know what made him bite his tongue – whether Ivan's gloomy look, or a vague feeling that stirred in his soul – he should not have said this, only not in front of Ivan – but why, why...“You wanted to say” His gaze was as heavy as before, unreadable, purple eyes shone blue in the half-darkness. "Only not with you?”Alfred nodded absently, and realized a moment later what he had just blurted out.Shit.“Jesus, I'm sorry, I...”“It's okay” Ivan said quickly. It was impossible to hide from Alfred that his lips remained pressed into a thin line, although his eyes softened. “Forget it”“No, really, I'm sorry” he took his hand hurriedly. “I shouldn't have said that. It’s just” Alfred exhaled convulsively. Tears welled up in his eyes again – it hurt so much... “I have never been attacked before. Well, I have been, but... not like that” His voice trembled on the last syllable. “Not in New York. Not in my very heart. And not with... thousands of unarmed people dying”Silence. The connection, which had almost disappeared due to his, Alfred's, angry outburst, was again forming between them, shining with an invisible golden glow in the darkness of the living room. The blue twilight had thickened, giving way to a black night sky. Ivan put his hand on his head, began to stroke, carefully and slowly – Alfred clung to the touch, closing his eyes.Only a couple of inches separated their faces.“Why do they hate me”“What?” The whisper was so quiet that Ivan interrupted his caress, slightly turning his head towards him.“I don't understand how they could do this. I mean… I understand how, how they planned everything, where they saw gaps in our defenses, how they prepared. Where did they get the money from – they’re fine gardeners, after all, with all these wonderful poppy fields in Afghanistan” A chuckle, more like exhalation through the nose. “But… but why?.. They hate me, they hate America – a couple of years ago there were terrorist attacks, and they arranged them, in embassies in Africa – but people… what did they do to them?.. Why such… such…”Ivan was silent. It seemed that he could say a lot, explain a lot – but perhaps he felt that words were useless right now.“Usually the main purpose of this is to intimidate and terrify. To make give in to pressure” Just words spoken in the air. Alfred suddenly laughed – but now his laugh was much darker.“Hah. No fucking way I'll give in. If they thought that I would let them get away with it...” A convulsive exhalation. “I'll run these scums to earth. That bin Laden. I'll smoke them out of their fucking caves, out of every damn crevice in the mountains. They want to go to heaven so badly – I'll arrange it for them”Rage, seething rage clouded his eyes – finally; Alfred allowed himself to be engulfed by it, his entire consciousness turning scarlet; it burned from the inside, but it was better than fear, better than brain-eating panic, than this fucking helplessness – the rage gave him strength. He clenched his fists, didn't notice how the towel slipped down from his shoulders.If he was a little less on edge, he would think that mentioning Afghanistan and the Mujahideen next to Ivan was not a good idea, especially lately; that he always avoided this topic, and Ivan reciprocated, but it was too late: anger rose up inside in monstrous waves, and he choked on them.“I'll get them. I swear, Vanya, I'll get them, they'll pay for it, they'll pay...”“I’m sure of that” Ivan's tone was hard to read.“They are too busy jumping from cave to cave and fucking sheep, of course, someone like me would be an eyesore to them” He was shaking again, now from completely different emotions. “Someone who can read more than three syllables a minute, who doesn’t get their head cut off if their beard is too short. Maybe... maybe the very idea that somewhere there are people who have rights, who have freedom, is so unbearable for them that they sit and scheme on how to kill civilians, because the armed soldiers would grind them into dust? Hell, I thought… I thought for ten years that… that it was all over, that the triumph of justice and freedom had finally happened… And now, three thousand people have been killed, on my own land… It turns out they have agents here too, they couldn’t to do this, if there were no accomplices in America. We need to increase surveillance – they can be anywhere...”“Aren't you afraid that it will turn out like it was then, under Nixon?” Ivan asked suddenly and wary. “That in the end you’d will find yourself closely watched. Again”“I'm sure we'll find a legal way” Alfred furrowed his brows. “Otherwise, more people… will die because of them. I can't let that happen. Just not again”Something iron resounded in his chest with a dull ringing – this was how making the decision felt. Fury turned from a seething cauldron into direct beam, hard and unbending – it showed the only right path: to do everything so that this would never happen again, no matter what it might cost him.Crush the villains and win – as it should be, as he had already done many times in his life, go through this test, coming out of it only stronger and more powerful than before.A foothold was finally found after several torturous, painful days – and he was able to escape at least a little bit from the whirlpool of feelings overwhelming him.Ivan held him by the waist, pressing his forehead to his. He seemed to be buried in thought – and Alfred suddenly understood, realized with every cell of his body what had been hidden in the subcortex until now, and now surfaced – his Vanya was here.“Vanya” He wrapped his arms around his neck; his heart beat sweetly from the sight of Ivan sitting in front of him without a scarf. “I'm so fucking glad you came here”Silence – and then a sigh; Ivan answered him, hugging his waist tighter.“Could it have been any other way?”Tired tenderness in violet eyes melted something deep inside – Alfred smiled, rubbed his nose against his. He could feel the softly radiant feeling flickering around them on his skin.“It's just… I know things between us aren't going as smoothly as we thought. This is not even close to the Cold War – but...”“Not so smooth” was putting it mildly. Political differences, as before, brought a lot of division into their relations, and the war in Yugoslavia was no exception. Ivan's Prime Minister turning back over the Atlantic at a time when Alfred and his allies were forcing Vuk to leave the Kosovars alone was only the beginning of his headache. The conflict had to be smoothed out – they decided to involve Ivan in the settlement, inviting him to participate in a joint peacekeeping mission, refusing, however, to allocate a separate sector to him – and the next day the airport of the Kosovo capital was flooded with Russian paratroopers.Everything ended peacefully in the end, but just the mere thought of trying to block the runway – until reinforcements flew to the paratroopers – brought back memories of the events of forty years ago, when one wrong step could lead to irreversible. They managed to reach a compromise – Ivan's peacekeepers would act independently of everyone else – but their correspondence lost warmth, and conversations at conferences remained strained.It seemed that the last time they talked so coldly was on the eve of 1985.“...but I'm very glad that you came. You have no idea how important this is to me right now”Ivan looked at him, shifting his barely trembling gaze from his eyes to his lips, cheekbones and nose, and back to his eyes. Carefully tucked a strand behind his ear – God, Alfred didn't know how much he missed those touches –and lowered his hand to the top of his head, drawing him closer.“I love you, after all”His heart trembled – Alfred did not doubt it for a minute, even though Ivan uttered these words so rarely – but now something was not right in them; they still sounded as gentle as when they first confessed to each other, but at the same time – as if a little doomed; as if Ivan himself was not happy with this feeling that had taken such deep roots in his soul for many decades – the same feeling made roses bloom in Alfred’s soul, which sometimes scratched him with their thorns.Or maybe he was just imagining things – he didn't want to go deeper, and Alfred decided to change the subject.Especially when the subject suggested itself.He rested his cheek on his shoulder. Fixed his gaze on the thin strips of light on the floor that fell through the blinds from the street lantern.“And those militants who bombed you... Are they also connected with Al-Qaeda?”Ivan's shoulders suddenly twitched into a straight line – Alfred felt his fingers tighten on the top of his head and on his back.“Yes”“And you... did you feel the same way then? Two years ago”The war that broke out at Ivan’s place after the explosions became another subject of their silence.Alfred knew about the beginning of the counter-terrorist operation. He knew that Ivan took part in it of his own free will – and this after he returned from the first one, exhausted and depressed, embittered because of the blood, dirt, stupidity and betrayal of his own generals. The campaign under his new boss was more successful than the previous one, not least due to the fact that it was decided to abandon the assault on the capital of the rebellious republic, instead razing it to the ground with airstrikes. Alfred heard news of filtration camps, through which local residents went missing, and of mass graves that contained too many bodies to belong to militants alone...He remembered wondering vaguely if Ivan was involved in all of this.Ivan was breathing slowly, as if on purpose – as if trying to keep his voice even.As if holding back a huge avalanche of feelings that had piled up in his soul.“I was going crazy then” a thick whisper, filled to the brim with something inexpressible. “There were not only explosions, before that they invaded Dagestan, the neighboring republic. They occupied a couple of villages, returned them to the Middle Ages – everything as they like. My prime minister said that Dagestan could be lost. I was ready to howl – I was so fed up with this..."The word “powerlessness” hung in the air, unvoiced. Ivan took a deep breath.“But then, thank God, they got down to business and began to drive them back. And then suddenly – explosions. Several days in a row, some of them are also in Moscow. There was a moment when I thought that this would never end – that every couple of days there would be new explosions, in all cities. People did not sleep at night, patrolled the yards, cellars...”Two years ago, Alfred tried to imagine what it was like to wait every day with horror for the onset of darkness, in fear that explosions would take the lives of all the inhabitants of the section or the entire apartment building – realizing with monstrous pain that now he didn’t even need to imagine.“And then you decided to sort it out?” He asked quietly.Silence settled for several moments before Ivan said:“We decided that it was time to close this hotbed of terrorism once and for all” Something dark and terrible sounded in his voice.Something that had taken root inside of Alfred himself – he couldn't help noticing it.He also couldn't help noticing that before he would have been afraid of this feeling – but now he didn’t give a damn about it.“Of course, they have spread to cells in other regions, but we will squeeze them out and destroy them. I'll take care of it” Ivan turned his head and dropped a kiss on the golden top of Alfred’s head. Alfred felt him stroking the small of his back, making circles with his fingers. “You know, after I got a new president, I feel like we can finally clean up this whole mess for the first time in a long while. It turns out” A short smile. “This alternation of power of yours isn’t such a bad thing, is it?”Words about the cleaning up the mess were spoken not just warmly, but with a touch of hope – Alfred did not remember the last time he heard it in Ivan's voice. Joyful expectations were replaced by a sharp disappointment, despite getting rid of the dictatorship, crises rained down on his beloved one after another – Alfred no longer remembered the time when Ivan did not look fed up with life, forced to deal with a hundred problems at the same time, to get money from somewhere both for reforms and for salaries, which were declining as rapidly as faith in tomorrow against the backdrop of bloody gang wars for the redistribution of the national wealth – but now he sounded... confident. And maybe, just maybe – this time everything would work out. For him... and for them.Alfred raised his head. He cupped Ivan’s face, pressed his lips to him – Ivan gasped softly in surprise, answered the kiss – it turned out deeper and warmer than all the kisses before.Hope – that was what made its way as a thin ray through the black clouds of nightmare.Alfred stroked his temple with bent fingers, narrowing his lids – Ivan’s violet eyes glowed with tenderness, and he felt how large hands were moving along his back and shoulder blades, warming him, embracing him, as if protecting him from all distress – which was pure illusion. Alfred knew that he would have to confront the new greatest evil in the world, standing at the head of the union of all free peoples, as it befits him – and he and Vanya could...“You know what would be great?” He leaned back, just a little, just to look at Ivan’s face. He took him by the forearm, pulled his palm to himself – intertwined their fingers. “If we would cooperate… to fight terrorism. My top brass is already calculating the best and fastest way to get them in Afghanistan, and I thought we might...”A common goal, as once upon a time, even if it arose due to such a terrible disaster – at last, at least in some way, their joint work would begin to differ from hidden confrontation; Ivan's eyes fluttered open for a moment – he squeezed his fingers in response, slightly lifting the corners of his lips.“I think I would like that. And my boss as well. It is unlikely that I will be able to directly help with the invasion now – but, for example, to provide an airfield...” He looked thoughtfully at the ceiling. Lowered his head. “Yes, this is quite possible”Glowing under the ribs – Alfred smiled, feeling how the pain of the monstrous wound inside, if not subsided, then slightly weakened – and he suddenly realized that for the first time in a series of these terrible, painful days he allowed himself to take something like a respite, stop intentionally keeping himself on edge – and along with this realization, such fatigue piled up that it seemed that he would pass out right here, on the couch, in a damp towel.Ivan didn't seem to be in the mood to let him do it.“Let's go to bed. I'll come in a couple of hours, and you really need to sleep”“I won’t argue with that” Alfred threw a towel over his shoulders, slowly getting up – Ivan stood with him, supporting him by the hands, as if he was about to collapse, Jesus – and Alfred wandered towards the corridor, focusing on a bright smear of light that was visible through the eyelashes on his narrowed eyelids.When he was about to cross the threshold, he suddenly heard a quiet voice:“Alfred”He turned around. Ivan looked at him seriously, clenching his fists on both hands – the light from the window fell on half of his face, covering it with stripes.“Do you understand that it will feel like catching smoke with your hands?”Alfred thought of the smoke – the black and hideous smoke that billowed above the damaged towers, shrouding the skyscrapers, veiling the blue sky – horrifying and putting fear deep in hearts. He remembered the screams and panic, the dismay that gripped the entire nation...He remembered the decision he had made, steel ringing in his chest.“I understand, Vanechka” A smile, radiant, from ear to ear. “Don’t be afraid – I’ll shut off the air supply to the fire”***He collapsed on the pillow, not even bothering to get under the covers – and when he opened his eyes, Ivan told him that he had slept for two days.***On the evening of September 20, the Capitol shone like a majestic white rock against the dark sky.Congressmen walked on the floor of the Rotunda, breaking into groups, talking with each other, waiting for the meeting to begin – Alfred talked with them, and although only a few among the parliamentarians knew who he was, it seemed that they all felt that day, directing their eyes at him – bitterness and pain were read there, but along with them – pride, and endless love, and a desire to protect.Alfred saw this, bathed in these feelings – and returned them to his people.The shock of the early days was over, settled like the gray asbestos dust that rose over Manhattan on that accursed day; and new impressions swept over him, impressions that filled his soul with joy, from which tears came to his eyes.He saw how the rescuers and firefighters worked tirelessly – with his own eyes. Saw, already in his mind, how many volunteers went to the crash site to help them, how much blood was donated, how many tears were shed – and how much help was sent to the families of the victims and the dead. It was an aching feeling, painful; but at the same time – piercing every cell of the body, bright, sincere and strong.Such a feeling that a country could sensate when its people directed their love towards it in a single impulse.A familiar frame flashed on the periphery of his view – Alfred turned around sharply and realized that he was not imagining things.Arthur stood not far from him, a little embarrassed, as always when he wanted to drop his facade of restraint and composure. He waved, greeting him, a little awkwardly – and his thick eyebrows flew up when Alfred threw his arms around him in a mighty embrace, almost knocking him off his feet.“Artie, old man, I'm so glad to see you!”“Artie”, a little taken aback, straightened his tie and smoothed his hair when Alfred finally released him, after twirling him around.“«Old man» instead of the usual «old geezer»? As I understand it, you have finally mastered diplomatic etiquette” The habit of grumbling and ironizing did not betray his elder brother even at this moment – but now his grumbling was touched by amiability and some kind of kindness. Alfred chuckled, punching him lightly in the chest, though Arthur still grimaced a little.“I’ll save «old geezer» for when the official part ends. How was your flight?”“It’s unusual when at the airport they check you to the very underwear, the rest is tolerable” Arthur put his hand on his shoulder. “But I must admit, I'm damned glad to see that you keep your presence of mind” Ironic mockery disappeared from his gaze, giving way to grim seriousness and… sympathy. Alfred covered his hand with his and met his gaze. He squeezed his hand tightly.“Hell no. You won't get rid of me that easily” Gratitude permeated his every syllable.They didn't have to say it out loud to understand each other.A moment of silence – Arthur removed his hand, shoved his hands in his pockets. He began to slowly move towards the hall of the House of Representatives: the joint session was about to begin soon – Alfred walked next to him.“My Prime Minister has already contacted the security services on the topic of countering terrorism. I have a couple of suggestions to help coordinate your plans. I have no doubt that you have already built them – and quite large-scale ones”“Always knew I can count on you, buddy. And your acuteness” Alfred chuckled with gratitude. Talk of the war on terror, such a noble goal for which the entire civilized world should unite, had been spreading in the air in recent days, filling his soul with aspirations – but the plans were still far from detailed; the President was soon to bring him up to date.They approached their seats in the hall – right in front of the speaker's stand with a huge American flag. Arthur sat down with his legs crossed, his hands folded on his knee, Alfred sat next to him, resting his elbow on the back of the chair. Congressmen were taking seats around them and on the balconies.He exchanged a couple more phrases with Arthur – something about outlines of the future and already ongoing cooperation – but his thoughts were far away: Alfred felt a strange dizziness, tension tingled all his muscles with needles – as if something that was going to happen now would change... change a lot.Finally, the president appeared at the stand to begin his speech – and the hall burst into applause.Alfred immediately realized that this evening – and this speech – he would remember for the rest of his life.The President spoke – and he spoke loudly and confidently.He spoke about how the whole country united in hour of need – from rescuers who worked to exhaustion, to people who read prayers in different languages of the world. About the fact that the determination of the whole country was aimed at giving the villains what they deserve – and justice would eventually prevail.Applause filled the air. Alfred felt them with his whole being.The Americans were not alone in their grief – thousands of people from all over the world, from the Far East to the shores of the Atlantic, offered prayers for the victims of the terrorist attack, expressed their condolences; on the words that America has no truer friend than Britain, whose Prime Minister arrived here on this memorable day, he threw a grateful look at Arthur – he sat, looking into space in front of him – the corners of his lips turned up, and a slight blush of pride could be seen on his cheeks.The President said that on September 11, an act of war was committed against their country, and that now the sacred duty of the United States was to put an end to Al-Qaeda, declaring enemies not only terrorists, but also all states, all governments that give them shelter. But it would be absurd to think that the war on terror would be limited to Al-Qaeda alone – it would not end until every terrorist group of global reach had been found, stopped and defeated.Alfred's heart raced and the hairs on his skin stood on end.They hated him – hated him because he was the epitome of a way of life that they could not bear, the embodiment of Freedom itself – and so they carried out this terrible attack, hoping that frightened America would crawl into a hole to lick its wounds, abandoning all its friends and allies, abandoning the upheld principles. These heirs of the monstrous teachings of the twentieth century, who snapped fingers on human lives, they wanted not only to take them away from people – they wanted to inspire horror, poison the very existence with fear and disunity.Anger, mixed with iron strive, was already seething in his blood. Alfred clenched his fingers on his dress pants. No fucking way they will do it.A long battle awaited him, unlike any other that he knew before.He would not go to war with his bare hands – he would be provided with weapons, the best that mankind – and the state machine – could create.The newly created Department of Homeland Security was designed to improve the interaction of all government departments so that they work as a whole, preventing such disasters, looking for villains around the world, wherever they hide. New tools would be given to the special services so that they could track the preparation of terrorist attacks, to the intelligence – so that they could know about the bastards way before they would strike...But America would not be alone in its crusade, oh no.Every nation was free to become their ally, every country, small or big, to fight together against the greatest evil on the planet, the fight of all who believe in progress and freedom. Dozens of intelligence agencies around the world offered their help, their data – and the free world once again rallied to the side of America.For freedom and fear are always at war, and now this nation and this generation would be the ones to eliminate the threat to the American people, no – to all of humanity, that americans would rally with their courage – and they would not let it down.
As we have never let it down...
“In all that lies before us, may God grant us wisdom and may he watch over the United States of America” fearlessly resounded from the speaker's stand.***As the hall rumbled, thundered and burst from a riot of applause, Alfred froze, looking admiringly at the stand, at the space behind the president, at what was far, far beyond this hall, and he thought – felt – that something very important just happened.That he had just been given a new life purpose.More than once in history it happened that his leaders gave direction to his aspirations, sincere and ardent, but half-formed; they showed the way to achieve the goal, to achieve true freedom. He was born from aspirations for freedom, he lived through aspirations for freedom – fighting for justice at each new stage of his growth – and invariably obtaining it, emerging victorious from the fight with the champions of tyranny, inside or outside his borders.And today this was exactly what happened – the beginning of a new path had been laid, along which he would go, no, run, no, fly up like a bird, leading on all of humanity after him, all who yearn for a fair and just world, free from grief, tears and suffering, from an invisible enemy that was vanished in caves and sands – or in a dark forest – and was about to attack and take away life.He finally remembered that feeling, forgotten for the last ten years, the feeling that he had a purpose, the feeling that he knew what was worth fighting for.Freedom cannot be crushed, it will itself endure all the villains, all the terrorists and dictators – and soon its thunder would strike the whole world – and will leave only a handful of ashes from all the villains.Ashes – that was all that would remain of them after the flames of his fury fall on them.The fires of resolution exploded before his sky gaze.     A couple of words about how I wrote this work.The order for it came to me in June last year (I am very sorry for the delay), even earlier than for the “Children of tyrants”, something about RusAme hurt/comfort in early 2000s, but I decided to write something closer to reality – and put a character I know less about in the center of the narrative, which means I would have to read a lot about him, learn a lot of new things, but without giving up on the topic of Russian-American relations and some parallels that the chronological proximity of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the apartment bombings in Russia in September 1999 offers us.I perceive this work not as something completed, but as the first chapter in a hypothetical cyclus that I may or may not write, depending on the orders. September 11 is significant primarily for its global consequences – the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, the destabilization of the Middle East, the emergence of the terroristic Islamic State, the strengthening of special services and illegal surveillance of citizens. I must say right away that I decided to write the emotional tone of the story according to this documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5iBxva_pm8, which traces the connection between September 11, 2001 and the attack of Trump supporters on the Capitol in 2021 (the documentary is two hours long, but I advise you to take the time and watch it, it will be one of the best two hours of your life). However, if I were to analyze in detail the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, their impact on United States, the disclosures of Edward Snowden and such a phenomenon as Donald Trump (deserves a separate study), adding to this all the twists and turns of Russian-American relations, then you would see this work a year later, and it would be the size of about 200 pages (given my love for details). So I decided to limit myself to September 11 and a few days afterwards, but I will gladly continue to develop this storyline if there is a demand for it.  
The enemy that struck him on the islands many thousands of miles away was clear and open, as the rising sun that shone on his banner – French philosopher Paul Virillo called the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 "the new Pearl Harbor", which then became a commonplace in the American press and journalism. On September 11, there really was a feeling that the war had begun.
The Secret Service guided Alfred out of the house into the hideout – a US federal agency whose department includes the protection of the President, Vice President, their relatives, other high-ranking officials, former presidents and their spouses, presidential and vice presidential candidates, representatives of foreign states during their visits.
That's how it was. Old acquaintances – Al-Qaeda terrorist organization appeared in 1988, its founder was Osama Bin Laden, an Islamic fundamentalist who was engaged in supplying and financing the Afghan Mujahideen opposing the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Within the framework of the Cold War, the American government was also involved in financing Mujahideen, but it would be unreasonable to claim that Bin Laden was entirely created by the CIA – it is rather true that Bin Laden and the Americans pursued a common goal, but separately and for different reasons. Shortly after the Soviet Union left Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden returned home to Saudi Arabia, and in August 1990, when the troops of neighboring Iraq occupied Kuwait, creating a serious threat to the Saudi oil fields, Osama bin Laden offered King Fahd his help – the transfer of Mujahideen from Afghanistan to defend Saudi Arabia against a possible offensive by the Iraqi army. But the monarch refused the offer, choosing the help of the United States instead. American and allied troops landed on Arabian soil. But Osama bin Laden believed that the presence of foreign troops was desecrating the "land of two mosques" (Mecca and Medina). After his public speech, the Saudi authorities expelled bin Laden, who lived in Sudan for several years. More information about Bin Laden can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVcSDIEVEeI&t=2881s
The airspace has just been reopened – after the September 11 terrorist attacks, the US airspace was closed for several days.
The arrival of the President at the scene of the tragedy raised the spirits of rescuers and firefighters – a video of Bush's visit to the scene of the tragedy can be viewed here: https://www.georgewbushlibrary.gov/explore/exhibits/911-steel-american-resolve
Dead bodies – that was all they found under the rubble – that's all they found under the rubble – after the collapse of the towers, only two people were found alive.
The evacuation in the South Tower began when the plane crashed into the North one – here and further, Alfred tells the real details of what happened during the terrorist attack itself and over the next few days. Here are the video materials used by me to recreate the picture of the tragedy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w--5Qc7vmpg, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCwCC7QvdCI&t=4465s (some in Russian).
They just said that they did not share information, not with the FBI, not with the White House, with anyone! They just missed them! – According to the 9/11 Commission Report, by August 2001, the CIA knew that Al-Qaeda was preparing a terrorist attack using aircraft, but it did not share this information with either the government or the FBI. The terrorist attack could not be prevented due to the lack of practice of information exchange between departments.
“You wanted to say... Only not with you?” – before the terrorist attack, American society felt as untouchable, invulnerable to any external attacks and subsequently was shocked that this attack was still committed. Something like this happened the last time during the attack on Pearl Harbor, but the Hawaiian Islands are far away, whereas New York is the very heart of the States.
They’re fine gardeners, after all, with all these wonderful poppy fields in Afghanistan – Almost all the heroin in the international drug market comes from Afghanistan. At the time of September 2001, the Taliban terrorist movement was in power in Afghanistan, by the way, it even tried to curtail drug production (at least, it claimed so), but did not do it because then the peasants, for whom this was the only means of subsistence, would have rebelled against their power. Under these circumstances, the drug policy of the Taliban began to change. By the end of the 1990s, the Taliban had already imposed a 20 percent tax on every link in the heroin production chain – from peasants to drug labs and smugglers. Drug business tax revenues grew rapidly: from $9 million in 1996 to $45-200 million in 1999.
A couple of years ago there were terrorist attacks, and they arranged them, in embassies in Africa – According to American intelligence services, Al-Qaeda is responsible for the bombings of embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in August 1998.
If he was a little less on edge, he would think that mentioning Afghanistan and the Mujahideen next to Ivan was not a good idea – On July 3, 1979, American President Jimmy Carter signed a presidential decree authorizing the financing of anti-communist forces in Afghanistan. The program was mainly based on the use of Pakistani intelligence as an intermediary to distribute funding, supply weapons and train Afghan opposition forces. In addition to funding from similar programs of the British MI-6 and the Special Air Service, Saudi Arabia and the People's Republic of China, Pakistani intelligence was engaged in arming and training over 100,000 fighters of illegal armed formations from 1978 to 1992. They also engaged in recruiting volunteers from Arab States into the ranks of the Afghan Mujahideen to fight the Soviet troops stationed in Afghanistan. As part of Operation Cyclone, the volume of American military assistance to Afghan militants has been growing since 1980. According to Mohammad Yusuf, the head of the Afghan department of the Intelligence Center of Pakistan, in 1983-1987 the amount of funds directed to support the Afghan Mujahideen by 1987, only from the United States, amounted to about a million dollars a day.
.. maybe the very idea that somewhere there are people who have rights, who have freedom, is so unbearable for them that they sit and scheme on how to kill civilians, because the armed soldiers would grind them into dust? – In his speech on September 20, 2001, George W. Bush explained the motivation of terrorists by hatred of freedom and democracy in the United States. This point of view was criticized by experts, such as the former head of the CIA team in Afghanistan, Michael Scheyer, who pointed out that "Politicians are in a big delusion. We were attacked because of what we did in the Islamic world, not because of what we believe in, or because of how we live." Many of the conclusions about the motives made by the 9/11 Commission were supported by other experts. For example, counterterrorism expert Richard A. Clark pointed out some areas of American foreign policy as the motives of Al-Qaeda, such as the confrontation with the USSR in Afghanistan, the deployment of American troops in the Persian Gulf region, as well as the strengthening of Israel as the southern flank of the confrontation with the USSR. Others, such as Jason Bark, pointed to the political aspects of the motives: "his [bin Laden's] goals are mostly political."
We need to increase surveillance – they can be anywhere – In October 2001, the Patriot Act was passed, a federal law that gave the Government and the police broad powers to supervise citizens. The law, in particular, expanded the rights of the FBI to eavesdrop and electronic surveillance, which was regarded by many as a violation of the civil rights of Americans.
I'm sure we'll find a legal way – Snowden's disclosures in 2013 showed that they did not find a legitimate way :( I advise you to watch this documentary about how the system of surveillance upon American citizens was created: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaUemcqIQ-k
Ivan's Prime Minister turning back over the Atlantic at a time when Alfred and his allies were forcing Vuk to leave the Kosovars alone was only the beginning of his headache – It Is referred to the bombing of Yugoslavia by NATO allied forces in the spring and summer of 1999. The most common version indicates the official reason for the start of the bombing – the ongoing war in Kosovo at that time, where both sides used ethnic cleansing, as well as the pulling together of about 40,000 Yugoslav troops for a possible invasion of the territory of Kosovo, bypassing the ceasefire agreements (they will leave the border territories only after the end of the bombing), which could lead to destabilization of the region. However, there are other points of view about the reasons for the beginning of the bombing. NATO refused to legitimize its invasion through the UN, believing that Russia and China would veto their actions. As a result, NATO began its actions without UN sanction, calling them a "humanitarian intervention", effectively ignoring the UN Charter, which prohibits the use of force without a decision of the UN Security Council or not in self-defense. However, the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, actually supported the actions of NATO, stating the expediency of using force to establish peace. The bombing continued until an agreement was reached that led to the withdrawal of the Yugoslav armed forces from Kosovo and the establishment of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo. On the day of the bombing, March 24, Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, who was flying to the United States, turned the plane over the Atlantic and urgently returned to Russia. This was the first serious crisis between Russia and the United States since the Cold War. In general, by the end of the 90s, the initial hopes for an alliance between Russia and the United States were dispelled, the countries felt distrust and disappointment towards each other, Russia – because the United States did not provide enough assistance during the times of reformation, the United States – because of the rampant crime in Russia, "wild privatization", the undeclared war in Chechnya and the inability of the government to deal with crises and develop a course of reforms capable of providing unconditional support for democratic transformations.
The conflict had to be smoothed out – they decided to involve Ivan in the settlement, inviting him to participate in a joint peacekeeping mission, refusing, however, to allocate a separate sector to him – and the next day the airport of the Kosovo capital was flooded with Russian paratroopers – it is referred to the Incident at Pristina airport, a military operation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to seize the only Slatina airport in Kosovo, which led to a confrontation between the forces of Russia and NATO, which ended without a military clash. The most curious event that I learned about only when I started writing a fic, so here's a wall of text for you: following the bombing (and UN Security Council Resolution No. 1244), a decision was made to create and deploy a KFOR peacekeeping contingent in Kosovo. Russia was invited to the work of the peacekeeping mission, but it refused to participate in it due to the fact that NATO refused to provide Russia with a full-fledged separate sector, fearing that this would provoke the division of the region into two parts – the northern with the Serbs (for which Russia demanded a mandate) and the southern with the Kosovars, which could result in a new conflict or division of the region. After NATO refused to grant Russia a sector with the Serbian population, it began immediate preparations for independent actions in order to demonstrate determination and strength, which was actively pedaled by anti-Westerners and great power nationalists in the government apparatus. At the same time, both in the Foreign Ministry and in the General Staff there were opponents of this operation, who feared a confrontation with the United States and its allies. In view of this, the plan to occupy the airport had to be developed in secret and from many Russian military and politicians. On June 11, the Russian forces in KFOR, which were under the joint American command, voluntarily left the place of law enforcement under the UN mandate and, de facto, having deceived the KFOR and UN command, began moving to Pristina. The paratroopers seized all the premises of the Slatina airport in the shortest possible time, occupied a circular defense, organized roadblocks and prepared for the appearance of the first NATO columns that were already on the way. NATO peacekeepers were commanded by British serviceman Mike Jackson, who flew to Pristina for talks with Russian paratroopers. After that, Jackson told his direct superiors, the head of the NATO Joint Command in Europe, Wesley Clark, that Russia's support was important for achieving peace, so he considered it counterproductive to counteract it. Clark refused to accept this point of view and continued to demand the airport to be blocked, claiming that he was allegedly supported by the NATO Secretary General. Jackson refused to comply with the order, saying, "I'm not going to start World War III because of you." Throughout the entire confrontation, negotiations were conducted, during which Russia ultimatum demanded its own zone of responsibility, stating that its troops would obey only its own leadership. NATO has once again denied Russia this demand, repeating its concerns about the partition of Kosovo. As a result, a compromise was reached – the Russian peacekeeping forces were deployed throughout Kosovo independently of NATO as part of a separate KFOR force, but still without receiving their own mandate or zone.
And those militants who bombed you... Are they also connected with Al-Qaeda? – it is referred to the series of terrorist attacks in Russian cities (Buinaksk, Moscow and Volgodonsk) on September 4-16, 1999. According to the official version and the verdicts of the Russian judicial authorities, the terrorist attacks were organized and financed by the leaders of illegal armed groups, Emir al-Khattab and Abu Umar, and carried out by groups of North Caucasian militants hired by them. Khattab was closely associated with the terrorist Osama bin Laden.
The war that broke out at Ivan’s place after the explosions became another subject of their silence - despite the unpopular First Chechen War, the explosions of apartment buildings gave the Russian government a popular mandate to launch a "counter-terrorist operation on the territory of the North Caucasus region", or the Second Chechen War, as a result of which federal troops regained control over Chechnya, and the fight against the underground continued for several more years. International human rights organizations have made numerous accusations against the government security agencies of the Russian Federation of war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law. The explosions of apartment buildings, the invasion of militants in Dagestan, the Second Chechen War are the key events that allowed Vladimir Putin, who had just been appointed to the post of Prime Minister, to gain popularity (popular approval was caused by the tough policy he began to pursue against militants, society as a whole was tired of the "mess" of the 90s, a request for "a strong hand" existed), due to which he managed to be elected president in the 2000 elections.
I think I would like that. And my boss as well. It is unlikely that I will be able to directly help with the invasion now – but, for example, to provide an airfield... – The event that predetermined a sharp rapprochement between Russia and the West, despite previous crises, was the terrorist act of September 11, 2001, when Russia took the side of the United States without hesitation. The culmination of this rapprochement was Russia's participation in the anti-terrorist coalition created by the United States to prepare and wage war against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, and the signing of the so-called Rome Declaration "Russia-NATO Relations: a New Quality." In accordance with it, the Russia-NATO Council (the "Council of Twenty") was established on May 28, 2002, after which it was possible to expect the transition of relations between Russia and NATO to a higher level with the prospect of full membership of Russia in NATO. Russia has provided NATO with its territory for the transit of military cargo and military personnel to Afghanistan. However, hopes for further rapprochement, as we know, were not justified.
Arthur stood not far from him, a little embarrassed, as always when he wanted to drop his facade of restraint and composure – On the day of President George W. Bush's speech at a joint session of the chambers of the US Congress, the British Prime Minister arrived at Washington to express his condolences and show solidarity in the common cause of countering terrorism.
The President spoke – and he spoke loudly and confidently – George W. Bush's speech on September 20, 2001: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF7cPvaKFXM&t=436s. It marked the opening of a new era known as the "Global War on Terror". Subsequently, the United States conducted a number of foreign military operations, united under the general name "Enduring Freedom" (the largest of which was the invasion of the US-led international coalition into Afghanistan), as well as the war in Iraq. Both the concept of the "war on terror" and the methods by which it was waged by the United States and its allies have repeatedly been criticized and provoked protests.