"I'm Don Quixote. You be Sancho, she'll be Dulcinea, and everyone out there is the horse." - We Just Decided To.

It was only as the lights slowly shut down with their corresponding screens that Mackenzie realised just how long she had been standing there.

No one in the control room said anything to her other than goodbye as they left, one by one, for home. The news of her and Will's earlier outburst in the newsroom had, as usual, spread around the staffers like wildfire. Not that she consciously heard many of them leaving. She felt like she'd just been very slowly hit by a truck for the last hour and a half. It was numbing and disorientating.

All that was left was the dim light from the hallway as Joey left the room mumbling a "See you, Mac" as he did so.

The realisation that she was alone, in the comforting gloom of her control room finally allowed Mac to release the breath that she felt like she'd been holding since Don had told her Giffords was alive. What came out was something crossed between a choked sob and a deep breath.

That afternoon her emotions had been thorough a tight ringer; first of all worried about Will, then angry with him, then running on an adrenaline high for a straight hour, then getting one over on Reese...And now it was just calm.

She couldn't explain exactly why she was starting to cry – it just seemed that she had kept it in for so long that the cork had popped out the bottle; like a forest fire, it was her body's way of wiping the slate clean and putting her back to level one. So she stood there on her own in silence for a few minutes.

As it began to subside, she found herself looking back up at the dark, reflective screens, digesting it all – something they rarely had time to do before they had to move swiftly onwards to the next thing. She sniffed loudly and wiped the tears from her face clearing her throat. She should probably go.

"You know I love Will like a son, but he can be a complete jackass sometimes." Mackenzie nearly died of shock as she spun around to see Charlie Skinner watching her from the glass door. How long had he been there? Mackenzie blinked, trying to make out his face properly in the dim light.

As her eyes adjusted, she could see that there was a concerned expression on his face as he examined the tear stains on her cheeks and her puffy eyes. She just looked at him, unsure of where he was going with this.

He shook his head, making an indistinguishable noise under his breath as he walked the few short paces between them and took her hand in one of his, wiping a stray tear that had slipped, unbidden from the corner of her eye from her face. He smiled, kindly.

"And he's usually a jackass when you're involved." She blinked again, confused. Charlie laughed, "Seriously Mac, you do something stupid, he does something stupid. It will all even out in the end, believe me."

With that, he raised her hand to his lips and gently kissed it, giving her a wink.

"Go home. Get some sleep, and come back here on Monday ready to go again, and this will seem like a lifetime ago." He squeezed her shoulder and left.

She watched him until he was round the corner, and then slowly turned back to the screens. A small smile appeared on her face as she sniffed away the last of her sadness.

It had all worked out, hadn't it? The fight had been forgotten as soon as Maggie came into the room. It was just them, as a team, working to get the story. And they had got it right. Her team, her wonderful team! And it would be okay.

They were going to take the fight to Leona, and woe-betide her if she decided to bite back; because they would figure out a way to win. As she remembered something Charlie had said, she giggled to herself as she removed her headset and grabbed her notebook to make for the door.

Feet of fucking steel!

I do have an idea for a short follow up... willxmac anyone?