It's 8 AM on a Monday, and Will McAvoy and Mackenzie McHale are not around.
Normally, it's no cause for alarm. Everyone knew that they were engaged, and most of them are grown ups, so it occurs to them that maybe, the two of them enjoyed too much of the weekend. They would almost verify their suspicions if the pair would walk into the bullpen and to their offices avoiding glares and muttering apologies to anyone who would strain to listen.
The thing is, all of that happens before 8 AM.
So right now, you had Jim Harper looking back and forth at his BlackBerry to the world clocks, to the still empty offices of the anchor and the EP. You could tell that in his mind, he was weighing in on the pros and cons of checking up on them. You could tell that he was going through an internal monologue, asking if it will all be worth it.
"Screw that," he thinks, possibly. He has duties and responsibilities, and he has to fulfil them.
—
It's 6:45 AM on a Monday, and Charlie Skinner was woken up by the alarm.
The thing is, his alarm goes off at 7. That allows him at least an hour to prepare for the day, an hour or so to go to work, so that he could be there around 10, just in time check up on the latest events. He doesn't find the need to go up before 7.
Unless of course, the alarm that wakes him up is the Google Alert he set for one of his anchors.
He tries to grab for the BlackBerry, to make the alarm stop. His brain tells him that the alarm's tone was the one he assigned for Will, so it slowly fills him with a sense of urgency. He tries to blink off the sleep from his eyes, as he feels for his glasses by the bedside.
He groans at the link that he sees - it's to a tabloid website that is more or less known for being intrusive to the point of discomfort of some. He makes a mental note to ask Neal to help him further narrow down the criteria for these alerts.
Charlie reads on, and as the sentences fly by, he steadily becomes awake.
He trashes that mental note - God help him, but wow, thank you tabloids.
So right now, he knows that Will and Mac went to an unscheduled trip to Rio de Janeiro. He sees the stolen paparazzi shots, and while he condones the methods, he finds relief in seeing the two of them happy. They deserve that.
Before you know it, it's 7 am and so, his day should begin.
The first thing he sees on TV is that there's a storm in the region - much attention is given to the report, because the region doesn't usually have storms.
It was only then that Charlie Skinner became wide awake for his Monday.
— —
It's 9:15 AM and Charlie, despite age, managed to reach his office with haste. He's been assessing the situation and to him it seemed that everything was lining up for a perfect scenario.
Every thing was confirmed when he saw a woman leaning at his desk, arms crossed, lips curled to a triumphant smile. "Good morning, Charlie." she greets, cool and calm. He knows it's a front - her heart's practically skipping at the moment.
"Morning Leona," he replies.
He removes his coat and places his bag under his desk. He boots up his computer, waits patiently for the log on prompt.
Charlie can feel Leona smiling at him.
He dares to take a peek.
Yep. The owner of AWM was smiling at him.
A knock disturbs the silence, and Jim Harper enters, frantic.
"Charlie. Will and Mac-"
The young producer stops, realising that Leona Lansing was in the room too.
"Go ahead Jim."
Do you dare speak of the problem on hand in front of the Leona Lansing?
Charlie gives him encouragement to continue.
"Will and Mac are not yet in, we're trying to call their phones, no answer… The people over at Will's place haven't seen them since Saturday morning…"
Leona laughs. Jim wonders if he said anything hilarious.
"Oh Charlie," she starts. "I love this team's dedication to clean journalism! They don't bother to read tabloids?"
Jim wants to mention that they did in fact, see the paparazzi coverage on Will and Mac's Rio vacation.
No response, so Leona continues. "The situation will be dealt with James. Tell the team to be ready with their pitches as usual." With that, she leaves the office with a bewildered senior producer and a slightly worried news division president.
Charlie answers the question Jim was formulating. "Be prepared," he says as finally, the log on prompt blinks into his monitor.
—
It's 10 AM, and everyone was a buzz. They already knew the protocol in these cases - the person in charge just needed to be finalised so that the day can go on as if nothing happened.
They just weren't prepared for who it was.
Charlie Skinner walked to the conference room, only to hold the door open to let Leona Lansing in.
The buzz fell into silence as she went straight to the front, Charlie in Will's usual place.
Leona raised an eyebrow, and waited for someone, anyone to greet the day.
"Good morning, everyone?" the question in her tone was obvious.
She saw Charlie smile at her, "Let them process this first," he seemed to tell her.
"As you may all know, or probably heard, read or saw in a tweet, Will McAvoy and Mackenzie McHale were spotted in an impromptu vacation somewhere in the nice sands of Rio. And as the weather reports came in this morning, you would know that there currently is a storm running through the area - first time in a few years, it's being reported. They won't be coming in until tomorrow morning, or evening, but Will assured me that they are going to be on the first flight available which will transport themselves back to New York."
The moment of silence over Leona's presence was over. Now, it's just silence on how the situation is building up.
While everyone was looking intently over at Leona, Sloan took some courage to take her eyes away from Mrs. Lansing and she looked at Charlie. She could've sworn that he was trying to hide his smile from breaking out - you can tell by the way the corners of his eyes were crinkling at the sight before him. She figures, he must be having fun with this.
(How dare he - they were frozen stiff at the sight of the owner of their asses in front of them, and there he was trying not to laugh.)
"So, for today, I will be producing tonight's episode of News Night. Elliot will cover for Will, Sloan will chair for Right Now, and Don… Well, Don will remain exactly where he is."
Elliot provided the break from the stunned expressions and silence, when he started muttering, "Me? News Night… With you…"
"With you hearing me in your earpiece Hirsch. Any problems?" Leona asked, hand on hip, daring him to continue.
"Uh-"
Charlie wasn't about to let Leona have all the fun.
"Well, actually… In this scenario, we have Sloan as Will's substitute, with Elliot's ass remaining where it is. The president of the News Division, Charlie Skinner also called me, has to approve any proposed changes to the broadcast lineup."
It was Sloan's turn to be bewildered - that was not the actual backup scenario.
Leona crosses her arms. "Very well, Mr. Skinner, I propose that Elliot Hirsch will do News Night with Will McAvoy and Sloan Sabbith will do Right Now for today, duration exceeding should Mr. McAvoy fail to return tomorrow or the days after." She ends it with a smile.
Charlie smiles back. "Approved."
—
The first rundown meeting of the day was tense.
The second one had tensions lowered, but everyone was still on their toes.
A few successful pitches here and there, and everyone still trying to wrap their brains on the reality that the owner of the company will be their executive producer for the day. When Leona insisted that they all call her "Lee" instead of "Mrs. Lansing", Martin was unfortunate to have made his whimper audible. When Tess and Tamara introduced to her the news about a pending union strike at the west coast, she beamed at them, and told them to gather more information and present to her a report by the last rundown meeting. She even started calming Elliot down by talking him through the first stories, letting him get used to the sound of her voice.
By the last rundown meeting of the day, the team was ready for the night's broadcast.
They have also, more or less, accepted the fact that Leona Lansing was indeed, the EP for tonight.
—
It's five minutes to air, and everyone was going about their places.
Elliot seated himself in Will's spot, nervously adjusted his tie and his papers, double and triple checking on the sequence and the works. He kept glancing nervously at the camera.
It's not that he's not prepared for this - he hosts his own show at 10 for chrissake. It's just that he has an enormous respect for Will and News Night that he feels that he's unworthy to even take his place, even if it's just for one night. Between him and Will, he was the face of human interest stories, Will was for the hard hitting news. He wasn't really built for this.
That comment earned him a thwack with today's newspaper.
"Elliot Hirsch," Charlie started, as smoothed out the paper in his hand. "I do not want you saying those words ever again, am I clear?"
"But Charlie…" Elliot had gone to him after the morning rundown, in a last ditch effort to convince Leona to have Sloan be the substitute anchor. Another thwack.
"Elliot. I have every faith in you as I have with Will, as I have with Sloan. If you are as you say you are, I would've hauled your ass to morning talk show reports. One day Elliot, who knows? Maybe you will take Will's place in the prime spot. You have to believe in yourself, because you have been doing great ever since you started with Right Now."
He was very thankful for the hug that came to replace the thwacking newspaper.
"Elliot-" came Leona's voice through his earpiece.
He shivered. She had been talking and guiding him all day, and yet, he's still not used to hearing her voice directly to his ear.
"Thirty seconds-" Herb said as Elliot saw the final commercial play.
"Make me proud, you ball of fluff," Leona finished as he gave the papers one final look through.
"In three, two -"
—
Charlie Skinner came in as usual to the Control Room to oversee News Night's broadcast. Tonight's was rather special though - unplanned, but special, nevertheless.
Leona Lansing was back in the control room.
In the monitors in front of them, Elliot's face filled up the small screens from different angles. In front of him, Leona was standing proud and tall, giving directions and guiding Elliot through the stories that they were reporting. She responds to questions and clarifications asked, she follows through the traffic of last minute advice coming from the bullpen.
Just like they used to.
On the first commercial break, Leona catches up as well, grabbing for the bottle of water to sustain her. She spots Charlie from behind room, and the two of them exchange smiles. She motions for him to come closer, he responds with him telling her that he's fine from where he stands.
Leona makes the effort to go to him and give a squeeze on the shoulder, which she hopes translates to her appreciation.
Somewhere along the line, Elliot speaks up. "Mrs. Lansing, are we clear for the interview for the union workers' strike? Has he been briefed properly and all that?"
Leona sighs, and replies, "Yes, and I swear to God Charlie, call me Mrs. Lansing again, one more time, I am thwacking you with your script."
Elliot looks at the camera. "Uhm. Elliot."
"Excuse me?"
"My name is Elliot, Mrs. L- Lee…"
The entire Control Room was looking at her as well. Charlie could only try to hide his smile.
Out of duty, it was Herb who breaks the silence. "Ten seconds,"
It was a slip that somehow comforted Leona throughout the remainder of the broadcast.
—
"This is Elliot Hirsch, filling in for Will McAvoy. We are News Night. Next up is Terry Smith for the Capitol Report. Have a good night."
The view zoomed away from Elliot, sweeping out through the studio. At the bullpen, the whole team was clapping and cheering for the substitute anchor. When Elliot came in, they gave him congratulatory pats on the back and cheery hugs. The big, hulking man of an anchor smiled sheepishly and tried to give his thanks whenever it was allowed.
Leona came to them next, and a rousing applause was given, Charlie perhaps giving the loudest of them all. With flair, she took of her glasses and bowed low at them. People who feared her this morning now had the courage of approaching her and telling her how honoured they were to work with her this evening. She smiled, and in the sea of faces, looked for the man who had allowed her this one time. He gave her a small salute, she returned the gesture with a gracious nod.
—
At his office, Charlie found himself pouring his favoured brand of bourbon. He grabs another tumbler, knowing that she'll be there soon enough.
A gentle knock, and he turns to see her, offering the glass on hand. She eagerly accepts, and they toast to the events of today.
"If I told you my suspicions about you encouraging Will to take a vacation, would you smile or gulp down the drink faster?"
"I will do no such thing, sir,"
They both laugh, and lean on his desk to look at the different screens that show the news. Today was a day of taking advantage of unexpected events, and since she was the center of it all, she takes in one more.
She rests her head on her shoulder and to her surprise, he tilts his head to her. "Nice show," he whispers, which she finds odd because it was only the two of them now, and he's not the one who would lower his voice to a whisper. Nevertheless, she thanks him again, for another time within the day.
"Did you miss it?" he asks, before finishing his drink and setting it on the desk.
"A little. Then I did this today, and now I miss it a lot."
He laughs as he drapes his arm around her, finally returning the reassuring squeeze she gave at the control room earlier. "At least now you have fear as a weapon. Your anchor would hesitate to butt heads with you and would do as you say."
She straightens up and takes a sip from her glass. "Oh, had I had fear when you were the anchor. It would have made my life a whole lot easier. Instead I got smart ass and stubbornness."
Charlie shrugs as he claims back his tumbler. "Heh. You liked that."
She's not yet done with seizing the day - she steps up to him and hugs him. She is relieved when he returns the hug.
It's now 10 PM. The opening strains to Right Now fills the office. Side by side, they watch as Sloan Sabbith takes the lead.
"Do you think I can convince Don and Sloan that it's their turn to take a break? I could pay for whatever cruise they like."
"You'd give Elliot another heart attack."