The News Night team was in the conference room wrapping a pitch meeting and starting to file out when Mackenzie saw the breaking news logo on a screen in the bullpen. Will was standing next to her, hoping to discuss one of the stories she had turned down, when he heard her nearly shout "turn the tv on, there's breaking news!"
Jim grabbed the remote and turned on the television. They were all concentrating on the screen except for Neal who was looking at the wires on his laptop to see if he could find out any more information.
"Repeating our breaking news, there is a hostage situation unfolding in the African country of Nigeria inside one of the embassies. It is not yet clear which embassy has been breached, as information is slow to come out of this situation," the anchor said. "We now have video being sent to us from the scene, the quality is not very good, but it does show hostages being marched into the courtyard of the embassy. We are going to play that for you now."
They were all watching the video very closely when Mac suddenly grabbed Will's hand and looked up at him. "Did you see?" she whispered to him. He nodded at her.
"Jim, get me a copy of this footage, now. Everyone else, please give us the room," Will said. The staffers left the room as Jim was on the phone getting a copy of the footage.
"I'm going to run get the footage, I'll be right back," Jim said.
"You saw what I saw, right?" Mac asked.
"I'm not sure Mackenzie…that's why I asked for the footage. We need to make sure we are seeing what we think we are before we go any further." His hand was on her back, rubbing gently. Mac was rubbing her forehead, trying to make sense of what was on that video. Time seemed to be standing still while they were waiting for Jim. The hostage footage had not been replayed and the anchor had thrown to a correspondent in Nigeria to discuss the rise of the Taliban in Africa.
Will saw Jim running back to the conference room and made a note to thank him later for all his efforts. He seemed to understand that this was a serious situation without anyone telling him what they suspected.
"Here we go," Jim said sticking a thumb drive into the computer in the corner. He played the footage and after just a couple of seconds both Will and Mac yelled stop. Jim stopped the footage and stared at the screen, trying to figure out what he was supposed to see.
"What are you seeing?" he questioned. Mac was grabbing Will's hand again and he pulled her to his side.
"Let's make some calls, we'll use my office," Will said. "Jim, get me any information you can on this hostage situation and I'd love to be able to talk to someone on the ground, officially, unofficially, I don't care. Please keep this to yourself." Jim nodded and left the conference room.
Will grabbed Mackenzie's hand and pulled her down the hall to his office. She followed numbly.
"Look at me, Mac," he said turning her to face him. He could see the tears in her eyes. "We will find out what's going on, I promise you," he said and pulled her to his chest. She wrapped her arms around his waist, holding on tight.
"We don't know if it's him yet Mac. And even if it is, for all we know that footage was shot hours ago. Maybe they're already safe. Maybe the standoff is already over," he whispered into her hair.
"You're a terrible liar Will. You and I both know that was my father in that video. And you know as well as I do that if CNN is running with it then it's still news. There hasn't been some miraculous hostage rescue in the last fucking hour!" she barked into his shoulder.
"All right then, let's panic. That will solve everything," he said sarcastically, and for just a moment, she laughed. Then her tears were off and running again and she was suddenly nearly hyperventilating.
"Mac, you have to stop this. Calm down, try to take a deep breath," he said quietly, rubbing his hands up and down her back. He pushed her over to the couch in the corner of his office and forced her to take a seat.
"Do you think your mother will know anything?" he asked her, not sure whether that was even a welcome topic of discussion at this point. Mackenzie's parents had essentially been living separate lives the past few years, or so he'd heard. Elizabeth McHale had finally had enough of following her husband around the world and was now spending her time in London while her husband continued to work at various embassies and universities.
"I don't know. I suppose I should call and find out," she said, sounding about as willing to do that as she was to do a story on Casey Anthony.
"I'll call. Go splash some water on your face and wipe off the mascara Mac," he said, nodding toward his bathroom.
"Do I look that bad?" she sniffled.
"Never. You never look bad. You just look like you could use a moment to gather your thoughts," he reassured.
She nodded and left him alone in his office.
"Well, this should be fun," he mumbled to himself, picking up the phone and searching his address book for the long forgotten number of the McHale's London townhouse.
"Hello?" the firm, clear voice demanded.
"Elizabeth?" Will asked.
"Yes, who is this?"
"Elizabeth, it's Will McAvoy," he replied.
"Mr. McAvoy, what a surprise! What….is Mackenzie all right?" she asked, suddenly realizing that a call from him was likely not good news or a friendly chit-chat.
"Mackenzie is fine. Have you heard from Michael?" he asked, knowing he needed to get to the point quickly.
"Not in several weeks. Why?"
Shit. He reported breaking news every day of his fucking life, but for once, he really didn't want to be the one to break this story.
"There's a hostage situation at the embassy in Nigeria, Elizabeth. We only got the news about ten minutes ago, so we don't know much yet. Mackenzie was hoping someone had contacted you with more information?" he questioned.
He heard the deep intake of breath at the other end of the line and knew she was going to be no help. She had nothing new to tell them and now she was in shock.
"Elizabeth, hang up the phone. I'm going to call Meggie and have her come over to sit with you. We'll call you if we hear anything," he said firmly and authoritatively, hoping the woman understood and would be all right. He made a quick call to Mackenzie's aunt Margaret, who was lovingly called Meggie by most of the family, and asked her to go comfort her sister.
"Anything?" Mackenzie asked hopefully as she re-entered his office.
"No. She hadn't even heard about it yet. I think I shocked her. I called your aunt and asked her to go over there," he told her. He watched as she nodded her head and said thank you so quietly he almost didn't hear her. She looked so lost right now.
He knew the feeling. It was that horrible moment every adult must face eventually…that moment when you realize your parents won't be there forever and that, no matter how old you are, you will feel a bit like an orphan when it happens.
"Come here," he beckoned, and she walked over to where he was sitting in his office chair and looked at him through the fringe of her bangs. He opened his arms and she crawled onto his lap and laid her head on his shoulder.
"Jim's contacting everyone he knows. Meggie or your mother will call if they hear anything. For right now, we just wait Mackenzie. I know it's the last thing you want to hear, but sometimes it's the only thing to do," he whispered, rocking her back and forth and listening to her halting breaths. She was crying again and he hated that he couldn't do anything to help.
Will heard Charlie speaking to staffers outside his office and knew he was on his way in to speak with them. He stuck his head in Will's office and saw Mac curled up on Will's lap. He could hear her soft sobs and saw Will rubbing her back, trying to comfort her.
Charlie walked over and leaned against Will's desk next to them. "What's happened?" he asked softly. He was shocked that Mac hadn't moved, especially when she saw him.
"Did you see the breaking news about the hostage situation in Nigeria?" Will asked.
"I did."
"When we saw the images we both thought we saw something, someone. I had Jim pull the tape and we watched it and confirmed that we both saw Sir Michael McHale in the group of hostages."
Charlie reached his hand out to Mac, which she took, but she didn't move away from Will. "What's been done?" Charlie asked.
"I've called Elizabeth, she didn't know anything about the situation." Charlie could see Will beating himself up over that one. "I then called Mac's aunt to go stay with Elizabeth. Jim is looking for anyone we know that's on the ground."
"I know somebody, a bureau chief, let me make some calls," he said squeezing Mac's hand.
"Thank you," she said quietly.
"Do you want me to get you on a plane to London to your family?" Charlie asked.
She shook her head. "My family is here."
Will kissed her temple and pulled her tighter against him. Charlie nodded, understanding completely.
"I'm going to go make some calls. I'm going to get Don and Elliott to cover for you two so you can focus on Nigeria, okay?"
Will nodded. "Thanks, Charlie." He knew that Mac needed to be his focus right now.
"When I know something, I'll let you know," Charlie said leaving Will's office.
"Thank you," Mac said quietly against Will's chest.
"You're welcome. Do you feel like making some calls? We don't know who might be able to give us any new information, friends of friends, colleagues, anybody. You can use the table and the moment one of us finds anything out, we can both be on the call." He was hoping she was going to buy that logic when all he really wanted to do was to keep her as close to him as possible. Michael may have been her biological father, but he was the closest thing he had to a father, too.
Will called ACN's international desk and asked them to send any video or information they had directly to his office. Then he put in call to a friend of his at the State Department and quietly but firmly insisted that he needed to know what they knew…not for broadcast, but for personal reasons.
"Dan," he pleaded "it's not for ACN it's for me. One of the hostages is Mackenzie's father."
Dan O'Reilly had been a steady friend to him since college. Sometimes years would go by without so much as a Christmas card between the two of them, but Will knew, when the shit hit the fan, Dan would be there for him. It didn't hurt that the man had adored Mackenzie McHale from the moment Will had introduced them to each other. Hell, Dan had probably been a little bit in love with Mac for years…who the hell wasn't? But Dan knew that, no matter what had happened, Mac was Will's girl and always would be. He would never make a move on her, but Will wasn't above using Dan's love for Mackenzie to get a little information right now.
"Shit," Dan muttered.
"Yeah, my thoughts exactly. What does the State Department know that hasn't been released yet?" Will asked.
"This doesn't go any further than you and me and Mackenzie, Will," Dan said firmly.
"Of course not," Will reassured.
"They're Taliban. They want money for the hostages and a declaration from the British government that they will pull their troops out of the Middle East and North Africa. We're working with the Defense Ministry and NATO troops in Nigeria right now, but it will likely be a Special Forces operation. There are three Americans in there that we know of. They were heading into a meeting with Mackenzie's father when the building's security was breached."
"When?" Will managed to choke out. "When will they go in?" Mackenzie looked up at him fearfully. He grabbed her hand and kept her from jumping up out of her chair. He wouldn't be able to pay attention to anything Dan was saying if Mac started frantically pacing the room.
"I can't tell you any more Will. I've already said more than I should have. Take Mackenzie home and wait by the phone. Believe me, you won't hear much else today. We're in full media blackout mode here. I'll call you when I know more."
Will heard the dial tone and realized Dan had hung up the phone. Damn, how the hell could he badger the man for more information when he wasn't going to stay on the fucking phone?!
"Will?" Mackenzie asked urgently, pulling her hand from his grasp and beginning to chew at her fingernails.
"Stop that. Biting off your cuticles isn't going to help anything Mac. Come on, we're going home," he told her, pulling her hands away from her mouth and yanking her up out of her seat.
"No! We need to stay here! We can wait for news off the wires and call some of our contacts in the Middle East. We can do something here Will," she insisted.
Damn, he hated to tell her there was absolutely nothing they could do but wait. Waiting was not Mackenzie McHale's strong suit.
"We can't do anything here Mac. And we're not going to hear anything until it's all over. Believe me," he pleaded.
"Why? What do you mean we won't hear anything? We're the fucking news! Of course we'll hear something!" she screamed. Will could practically feel the entire newsroom turning their heads to look into his office and try to figure out what the hell all the shouting was about.
"It's a Special Forces operation now Mackenzie. You know what that means. No one will be breaking this story. It would risk the lives of the hostages and the troops that are being sent in to get them out. There's nothing we can do right now," he whispered, reaching his hands out to her slowly, as if she was a bomb that might explode at any moment.
He knew she was on the edge of losing it, but he hadn't been expecting the sting of her palm as her hand shot out and slapped him across the face. She frantically pushed away from him and started shouting out a litany of reasons why they needed to stay in the office.
"No! We can do something Will. I know we can. I have Army contacts I can call. I still know the people ACN has in the Middle East. I can…I can…"
He watched her search her mind for what else she could do. She was staring at his cheek and the red mark she had left and that's when she crumbled. He caught her just in time, and they fell to the ground in a heap.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Will. I didn't mean to hit you. I would never hit you Will. You have to believe me. I would never hit you," she whimpered over and over again as he rocked her in his embrace right there on his office floor.
"I know you wouldn't Mackenzie. I know," he whispered. "Come on, let's get you out of here and figure out what to do next," he said as he urged her up off the ground.
He led her from his office as he punched in Lonny's number on his cell phone. You could have heard a pin drop in the newsroom as the entire staff watched Will lead an eerily quiet Mackenzie toward the elevators.
"Where are we going Will?" she asked in a childlike whimper.
"Home. We're going home Mackenzie."
"Okay," she said, following him numbly from the building. She didn't even seem to realize where he was leading her. Even more worrying to him was the fact that she also didn't seem to care.
Lonny met them just outside the building. Will opened the back door and helped Mac inside and followed her into the SUV. Mac was still unnaturally silent.
"I'm sorry I was rough with you," he said taking her hands in his. His fingers soothing the cuticles she had been chewing.
She didn't respond to him. She was staring out the window watching the city blocks pass by not really reacting to anything she was seeing.
"Mac," he said leaning down into her line of sight.
"Sorry, I was just thinking…."
"That's okay. Did you hear what I said to you?"
She shook her head and he smiled at her. "I said I was sorry for being rough with you in the office."
"I'm sorry I hit you," she said touching his cheek very gently.
"Let's chalk it up to stress, okay," he said taking her hand from his cheek and holding it tight. "We're both upset and worried."
She nodded and rested against his chest, his arm going around her.
Lonny took them to Will's apartment and walked them inside. Will was holding her hand and keeping her close to him. "Did you eat breakfast this morning, Mac?
She nodded and said, "some."
"It's Wednesday, so you had an apple muffin with cream cheese," he said in a matter of fact tone.
"How did you know that?" she asked.
"For as long as I've known you, you have an apple muffin with cream cheese on Wednesday mornings for breakfast."
"I hate being predictable," she pouted.
"Only to me and only because I know you so well."
"You know that you're the exception to every one of my rules," she said.
"What I was getting at was to see if you were hungry. I'll make you a grilled cheese."
"I don't think I could eat right now, Will. Thank you, though."
"Are you nauseous?"
She thought about how she was feeling and said, "not really. I just don't think I could eat or drink anything. I don't really know what I want right now" she trailed off.
"No, I get it, we'll wait and maybe I can fix you a grilled cheese in a little while."
She smiled at him. He so wanted to take care of her. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," he said.
"Not for the food, but for being there when all I needed was you to hold me." She was making him nervous, she could tell.
"What did you mean when you said your family was here?" He'd wanted to ask her that since she said it but wouldn't with Charlie in the room.
"Can we sit?"
"Sure," he said leading her to the couch. He sat down with Mac beside him, turned sideways, toward him.
She picked up his hand in hers and played with his fingers. "You don't have to tell me," he offered her an out.
She lifted her head and looked into his eyes and said, "you're my family. It's not just that you know who to call, you know what I had for breakfast and you know that I like grilled cheese sandwiches when I'm worried and upset."
"Mac…."
"You don't have to say anything, Billy, it's okay."
What she didn't understand was that he wanted to say something to her, but was now the time? "When you're Dad's safe and out of Nigeria, you and I need to have a long talk, okay?"
"Okay," she said and moved over to rest her head on his shoulder, still holding his hand.
Will put his feet up on the coffee table and Mac kicked off her shoes and pulled her legs onto the couch. They stayed like that for quite some time, mindlessly letting the time pass and hoping someone would call them with good news.
"Would you like something to change into?" he finally asked.
"Please."
"Sure, come on," he said pulling her off the couch, keeping ahold of her hand, he walked them back to his bedroom. He opened what used to be one of her drawers and handed her a pair of yoga pants and he then found her one of his t-shirts that had shrunk over time. "Go change," he said. "I'll be right here."
She was gone for a few minutes and all he could think about was a half-naked Mackenzie, alone and hurting, in his bathroom. He knew this wasn't the time but very soon. She came out of the bathroom and said, "thank you, I feel much better."
He held his hand out to her, which she immediately took, and he led them out to the living room. His mobile began ringing and he said, "it's Charlie," to her before answering, both of them sitting on the couch.
"How is she?" Charlie asked.
"We're worried, but we're doing all we can at this point," Will said. Charlie noticed that he said we, but decided not to call him on it right now.
"Put me on speaker, please, Will."
Will put Charlie on speakerphone and laid the phone on the table in front of them. "You're on speaker," Will said.
"How are you, Mac?"
"Okay. Did you find anything out?"
"I found out there is a surge of Taliban activity in the northern part of Nigeria. My contact said that there had been a lot of chatter recently. It was taken seriously, but the guards were simply overpowered, that's how they got in to the embassy."
"Anything else?" Will asked.
"That's it so far. I'll let you know when I find out anything further."
"Thank you, Charlie," Mac said.
"Thanks," Will said and disconnected the call. "That matches what Dan said earlier."
"He's going to call when he can?" Mac asked.
"He said he would. But if it's Special Forces or Seals, they'll practice until they are sure they've got it down before they go in. It could be hours if not days, Mac."
She nodded and walked out to the balcony and stared out at the city she loved. He came up behind her and pulled her back to rest against him, his hands on her waist. She pulled each of his hands into hers and pulled his arms further around her.
"I haven't seen him in more than a year Will. Can you believe that? And now I may never get the chance again," she whispered longingly.