Mark Arbour

It's possible that he's just completely self-absorbed. :-)

Thanks! It was pretty tough to go through and do all the research, then write it. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

It was pretty interesting to spend a little time in JJ's head. I think one of the more telling scenes was his encounter with the nurse. He was pretty rude, but he didn't even understand why.

Thank you so much. I'm glad, and also sorry, that it wss so realistic for you. I got the heebie-jeebies when I wrote that part about Stef on the ladder. Ugh. And I'm glad the multiple viewpoints worked. I really struggled with how to do that.

That's really bizarre, to go through that, and to come out unscathed, but dead.

Well, I'm sorry this upset you, but then again, that's kind of the deal with 9-11. Things should be clear in a couple of chapters.

Tim likes men who will do what he tells them to do, so you probably earned some brownie points. (SMILE) Seriously, thanks for the review, and for checking in.

Thank you Omar! It's really hard to write this and to try and remember everything, so I'm glad you're liking it so far.

You crack me up. As a matter of fact, we opened up at least half of our presents on Christmas Eve. I love instant gratification, and have very little patience. Obvious? We'll see.

Well, you'll be collecting them for the next few chapters. :-(

So we've gotten to the point in 9.11 where the planes have hit the Twin Towers, and that's been bringing back some pretty strong memories for me. I thought it would be interesting (and cathartic) to start a thread and hear how people reacted to the attacks on that day. I'll start. I had just started a new job, and was supposed to fly out to Phoenix on September 13 to meet some of the people I'd be working with. I didn't really have to get up early, but I was trying to get my body to adjust, especially since I'd lose another hour (or two...those old bastards in Arizona can't do daylight savings time! ). I had just gotten out of the shower and was watching the news when the story began running about the first WTC tower being hit. I remember I sat down in front of the television, still wet, wearing just a towel, and watched in horror as the north tower burned. At first I was wondering how bad of a pilot someone would have to be to hit a big fucking building like that. Then as I was watching the television, the second plane hit, and I remember being completely freaked out. It was obvious then that this was no accident. I sat there for at least an hour, stunned, watching the news, watching the buildings burn, watching people jump out of them, and then watching them collapse. I remember being numb, then calling friends who were working and telling them. I remember that the Pentagon seemed like an afterthought, and so did the plane that crashed in Western PA, at least initially.

Hope you have a great day!

Well, remember that Will was holding Maddy at the time, so that may have influenced her decision. Regardless of what happens, Will should be flattered that she trusts him with her.

I'm not sure that Jeanine's death will have more of an impact on JJ than the other brothers. His tight relationship with her is pretty much over. And the stairwell (A) was open, but confusing, and not easy to get through.

Well, it will continue for the next few chapters. :-(

I'm sorry to evoke such strong emotions. Hang in there.

Thanks Kevin, but I hope you don't feel that bad. Hang in there. The next chapter posts on 9-11

It's eerily ironic that the weather was so nice that day. I can totally understand how you would have stayed glued to your television, even if it was a crappy one. :-)

Great review, as always, Kody. I don't think JP would slap anyone in that setting, but in his mind, I'm sure he's relishing such a move. JJ is being his typical diva self, until he starts to grapple with the true meaning of the situation. With him, we get to watch the evolution of thoughts from "this is an annoyance" to "holy shit! I really do love my family." You're a few chapters ahead of me on the stages of grief, but we get there. :-)

Thanks Miles. You raise a couple of good points, things I remember well. The first was that the stupid bullshit arguments that seemed so important before that were suddenly meaningless. And the second was that it took a bit for the situation, the gravity of the situation, to sink in.

Well, you probably can guess. Probably. The next chapter will post on 9-11

September 11, 2001 8:30am: South Tower I felt my stomach rumbling in rebellion as the elevator shot up to the observatory. I’d have thought the g-forces would have forced the food in my stomach down, but it was feeling likely that it would be coming out again. Maddy wasn’t any happier about it. She cried out, probably because her ears were popping. I was feeling like shit for a bunch of reasons. The first was physical, in that I’d drunk too damn much last night. They’d had all

Well, Jervis was anything but a "softie". I think that he would have had a solid appreciation for Winkler and Jacobs, good subordinates that they were. Jervis is enigmatic to me, but I think that he was basically a fair and honest man.

That's an interesting point: he really is the "anti-French" of the era. Only I don't think that the French Directory was all that hostile to aristocrats (at least as compared to Robespierre) and I think that since he's not a French aristocrat, that tends to negate the outrage.

I'm glad you liked the chapter. Personally, I loved the little note Will wrote in JP's lecture.