Wow with all the new fanfic rolling in, it's hard to keep up with the reading, comments, finishing my stories and life getting in the way. Kudos to all the great stories being posted. With only five more episodes, I'll soon be heartbroken when it comes to an end. For now a little fluff.

little snafu with upload – not very techy - sorry for inconvenience

Baby Steps

Will entered Mac's office and seated himself in the chair in front of her desk. She was already on her computer typing and engrossed in whatever was on her screen. Before Will could utter 'good morning' and without even looking up or taking a pause, she said, "Jim will be running the show tonight."

"Jim?" Will questioned.

"Yes, I'm …. leaving …. early …. today." Mac said in a staccato delivery, as she was continued concentrating on her work and pecking at her keyboard. "I haven't been feeling quite myself lately …. and my doctor …. managed to squeeze me in … late this afternoon and since I'm out … I thought it would be a good time to run a couple of errands," she said, still preoccupied. Mac then started sorting through some papers.

A concerned Will leaned forward in his chair. "You haven't been feeling well, what's been the problem?"

"A little lightheaded and dizzy sometimes, I've just been feeling run down lately, more than my usual tired and I thought I'd get Doc to give me the once over." Quickly changing the subject, she said, "I need to see Jim and go over some notes with him."

Will took stock of just how tired her eyes looked and wondered how he could have missed the growing signs of her fatigue. He'd have to do a better job of looking after her - wait – he knew it wasn't his job anymore, but …. where was his heart leading him? His head told him it was most likely dangerous ground.

She was ready to pop out of her chair, but Will gestured with his hand for her to stay seated.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down Speedy Gonzales, Jim can wait. It's not a wonder that you're feeling ragged. You're always running around at a frenetic pace, skipping lunch, working too late, getting in too early, you need to take better care of yourself, MacKenzie."

Mac crumpled in her chair and finally gave in to the exhaustion she was feeling. She made a pointed effort to look Will in the eye. "Can we save the lecture, look who's talking? I'm taking care of it. It could be argued, you know, that your late night phone calls might have an impact on my sleeping pattern."

"Sorry," he said sheepishly.

She regretted what she said as soon as she said it because in truth, those calls were usually the highlight of her day. It was just Will and her having a conversation with no outside interruptions and no distractions; just two people with their guard down.

"I didn't mean it," she said in an apologetic voice.

She got up slowly and made her way around the desk towards the door. Will stood and intercepted her before she reached it. He placed his hands on top of her shoulders and lightly caressed them, "Just slow down Mac, I can't have my EP sidelined because she's not looking after her health."

For a split second, Mac closed her eyes and reveled in the feel of his touch. It took will power on her part not to launch herself into his arms. She wanted to feel safe, to be comforted - no – she could fall apart later. Will was a friend and he'd made it clear that that was all it was now. Mac gathered her emotions and extricated herself from his hold although parts of her body were screaming the opposite. "Let me brief Jim, and then maybe I'll go grab a bite at the café downstairs."

"Go ahead and brief Jim, then we'll both head downstairs. I want to make sure you eat something of substance."

Mac took a deep breath and was about to protest, but then agreed to his request, or was that a demand on his part. No matter, she secretly enjoyed the thought of a pseudo date with the man of her dreams. And in her dreams he did appear when she wasn't too exhausted to dream. Most times it would be when he would call her in the wee hours of the morning with new ideas to bounce off her or some such thing. It didn't really even matter the content of the conversation, Mac felt close to him because he lowered his walls and talked to her. Maybe it was the safety of being on the phone and not face to face that loosened the stringent reign that Will had on his emotions when it came to her. Or that vulnerable moment when they were both on their backs in their own beds and their defenses were weakened by the mere fact that at any moment during these 'night calls' either of them could drift off to slumber land.

"Okay, give me fifteen minutes."

After Mac finished meeting with Jim, she stopped by to pick up Will at his office. They headed down to the café, ordered their sandwiches and sat down. Their lunch ended up being very pleasant with shop talk about some of the stories they were looking to cover in the future.

As the weeks passed, Mac wasn't looking so tired anymore. Her doctor determined that she was very anemic and started her on a regiment of iron supplements and stressed the importance of eating right. Her health recovery was in part to these changes, but so was Will's active attention to see that she ate regular meals. Her step had a spring to it, her skin had a glow to it, and her eyes … her eyes …had hope in them.

Mac was enjoying this new found Will who had taken it upon himself to make sure she was on the right track and taking care of herself. Sometimes he would bring lunch for both of them and they would eat in their offices while talking over stories. Other times he would snatch her away from work and they would eat in one of the restaurants near the AWM building. Still other times they would grab a bite from a street vendor and make their way to have a meal in the park and enjoy the beautiful weather.

All of these so called "dates" were always in the context of work, but it was blossoming into something new. This self appointed role that Will charged himself with gave him permission to let him enjoy her company. There were times when he actually forgot that he was angry with her. More and more often the conversation would steer into topics that were not work related. The other benefit of him taking care of Mac was that it was also making improvements to his own health. He was smoking less, drinking less and he was less stressed in general, dare he say it – almost happy.

He noticed that he would stand closer to her so he could get a whiff of her shampoo, like when they were in line at a restaurant waiting to be seated. Or that he would perfectly time his exit from his office so that they could walk to the conference room together. Or he would "accidently" brush her arm when getting into the elevator with her. He was doing a thousand little things just to be near her.

Will noticed that Mac was smiling more and that more often than not, it was directed at him. It was a special smile that was meant only for him, it showed in her eyes. The warmth that emanated from them bridged the distance between their bodies and pulled him closer until it pierced his heart and melted the ice wall he built around it. He so wanted that. He wanted to spend more time with her and started to hedge around an excuse to do that.

"Hey Mac, since the anniversary of our News Night 2.0 is coming up maybe we should mark the occasion with seeing "Man of La Mancha. What do you think?" he said trying to gauge her reaction.

"That sounds like fun and so appropriate," Mac replied with a warm smile. "Should we grab a bite to eat before the show?"

"Makes sense to me, I mean we both gotta eat. Great I'll get the tickets and you can choose the restaurant. I'll see you at the rundown."

Will made his way back to his office on cloud nine. Smooth, MacAvoy. Play it Cool. Don't look too excited, it's just dinner and a play. And damn if she didn't say YES. He couldn't help it, he cracked a small smile.

Mac sat down at her desk, and replayed their conversation of a few minutes ago. Did Will MacAvoy just ask her out on a date? Yes, it was lightly veiled in a celebration of News Night's Anniversary, but it was a real date. It was out of the office. It was taking baby steps but maybe Will was finally coming to the realization that maybe they could become a couple again. Her heart was doing somersaults in her chest and a smile was forming on her lips.

Two weeks passed and date night was upon them. Mac didn't want to appear too anxious and had spent a little more than an hour searching her closet on what she would wear. She didn't want to be too flashy and finally settled on a simple sleeveless black dress with a simple necklace and earrings and a black lace shawl and plain black pumps – understated, but elegant. Over at the MacAvoy residence, Will was flailing ties from his closet to his bed in the hopes of finding the perfect one. He ended up choosing a blue one with a jacquard pattern – Mac always loved it when he wore that color because she said it brought out his baby blues. Trying to impress, MacAvoy? Just putting my best effort forward as I'd do with anyone else on a date. No, this isn't a date, it's just a celebration of News Night. There was no use in having these debates with himself. Just enjoy the evening, MacAvoy.

Will had picked up Mac and they headed to an Italian restaurant that she had chosen that was not too far from their theater venue. At dinner, Mac kept getting lost in those electric blue pools that were his eyes, while Will couldn't keep his off of her smile and kissable lips. For their meals, Mac had chosen pasta primavera, Will, linguini with scallops in a basil sauce and a Pinot Grigio as an accompaniment. After dinner, they decided to walk to the theater since it was such a lovely evening with Will being the perfect gentleman and walking on the side closest to the street. Conversation was easy and they talked of office gossip and how well the staffers had melded and come together into such a talented winning team. There was a great deal to celebrate.

During the play, they didn't overtly touch one another, but sharing an armrest did have its benefits. Will loved the pressure of their arms pressed against one another; it sometimes distracted him from what was actually going on in the play. If it was acceptable, he would have taken off his jacket, rolled up his sleeve to feel skin against skin. But still contented, he would steal side glances at her and see her smiling ear to ear, her smile was so contagious it couldn't be helped but to be mirrored in his own face.

Upon leaving the theater, Mac said with a beaming smile, "Will, I really enjoyed this evening, thank you so much for inviting me."

He was tickled that she enjoyed herself and that he was the one to orchestrate this perfect evening. "You're most welcome, I had wonderful time too."

He wanted to spend more time with her and wasn't quite ready to say goodnight yet. He could use the excuse of a nightcap, but decided against it because he didn't want to spoil their date by doing something stupid. No it's not a date - keep telling yourself that, maybe you'll believe it. Instead he said, "I'll take you home." If Mac was disappointed, it didn't show in her face and for that he was grateful.

They finally made it to her apartment and were standing at her doorstep. Mac looked at him with warm inviting eyes and pitched herself up on her toes to give him a kiss on the cheek. At that moment her shawl fell to the floor while he was receiving her kiss and his hands went to her bare arms where in that instant his brain along with other parts of his body were electrified by the feel of her smooth cool skin. He wanted more of her, oh so much more.

His hands moved to her back and pulled her closer as Mac moved her lips to find his. Hers lightly brushed against his until it found its target. What started out as a gentle and tender kiss escalated into a deeper and more urgent need to explore each other's mouths. When they finally came up for air, they were both breathless and their eyes were full of want. In a silent consensus of taking things slowly, that would have ended their "date." But fate conspired against them because at the same moment they decided to pick up her shawl that was lying at their feet and lightly bumped heads. They both started laughing, but stopped short when their eyes met again and read the hunger in the other's eyes. When they stood up, each was holding on to an end of her shawl. Mac tugged on it to pull Will all the way into her apartment and shut the door. Without breaking eye contact, she continued to pull him and led him all the way into her bedroom. Will thought to himself, maybe it was time to graduate from baby steps.

The End