Author's Notes: Thanks for the amazing reviews on the last one guys. And so, as promised, I am giving you all some fluff after my horribly mean and terribly sad fic. See, I am not a monster!
He was distantly aware of some sort of beeping sound coming from the other room. What the hell was that? It was really beginning to annoy him. This was the first decent night's sleep he'd gotten in days and that fucking beeping was disturbing it.
"Mackenzie, did you leave something on in the other room?" he asked the unmoving lump next to him.
"No clue, go back to sleep Will" she mumbled.
"Don't you hear that?" he asked again.
"I hear you grumbling and the ambient noise of New York City. What I would like to hear is the sound of your deep breathing in my ear followed by a couple more hours of sleep."
She never was a morning person. Obviously that hadn't changed. Of course, her current semi-comatose state could have something to do with the fact that they had, rather unexpectedly, screwed each other's brains out last night after spending two days in the studio preparing that American Taliban broadcast. Until they had finally fallen asleep a few hours ago, neither had probably had more than a catnap here or there for nearly a week.
Will curled back up around Mackenzie and kissed the back of her neck before admitting her suggestion sounded like a pretty good one. Soon, he too was sound asleep.
The next time he woke it was to the distant sound of a telephone ringing. It almost sounded like it could be in an apartment next door. Why Mackenzie had decided to live in this shoe-box sized rental was beyond him. She could afford better. Between her salary and her trust fund, she could afford a lot better. She never really seemed to care about where she lived though. As long as she felt reasonably safe and the neighborhood had a good selection of coffee shops and book stores, she was happy. It was odd really, when you thought about it. She probably had more money than he did, but here she was in a fifth floor walk up with one bedroom and a ridiculously tiny kitchen.
The news was what mattered to her though. And with the hours she spent at work, home was essentially just a place to sleep and change your clothes and how much room did you need for that?
"Where is that noise coming from? Did you leave your mobile in the other room?" she rolled over and asked him sleepily.
"I have no idea. It was in my jacket pocket and I don't have the slightest clue where my jacket is. Or the rest of my clothes for that matter. I remember walking you back to your apartment and then the rest is all a blur Mackenzie. Somewhere in there I think you threw me up against a wall and disrobed me."
"Oh yeah, like I was the only one ripping articles of clothing off. That bra was La Perla, Will. You owe me two hundred dollars!"
"If I can come along and pick them out I'd be happy to buy you several."
He sat up in bed and pulled her to his side.
"We've got to talk about this Will" she said seriously.
"No we don't, we just move on" he replied looking around at her bedroom, which he really had not seen in their rush to make it to the bed last night.
"Move on in what sense?" she asked timidly.
"Dinner, drinks, a few more nights that end like last night did. You know, getting on with the rest of our lives Mackenzie."
"Together?"
"Of course, together. I don't take my one-night stands to La Perla for an entirely new lingerie wardrobe."
"What about the past?" she asked him, looking down at her hands folded in her lap.
"It was fucking awful. I think we both know that. But I think we both know that a future without each other doesn't look so bright either. Maybe it's time we gave ourselves a break and tried happiness for a change."
"Are you sure this is Will McAvoy, eternal pessimist, talking?"
"My New Year's resolution was to look at life through rose colored glasses" he told her.
"It's August Will, you're getting a very late start on that resolution."
"Either that or I'm getting a very early start on next year. Come on Mackenzie, I'm giving cautious optimism a try for a change. Wanna help me?" he asked her, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
"I could be persuaded" she whispered.
Just as he began to pull her under him, they heard a furious pounding at the front door.
"It's 9am on a Saturday morning! Who the hell is trying to break your door down?" he grumbled, dropping his head against hers and silently cursing whoever was disturbing their first morning back together.
"I don't know. Just give me a minute and I'll check" she said, slipping out from underneath him and walking across the room in search of a robe. He watched appreciatively from the bed.
He waited several minutes wondering what the hell was taking so long, before he finally got out of bed in search of his boxers and t-shirt and made his way down the hall looking for her.
"Mackenzie, tell the girl scouts we'll buy all their damn cookies if they just let us go back to bed for right now" he joked as he walked into the front room.
The silent, shocked forms of Jim Harper and Maggie Jordan greeted him.
"Well, this will make for an interesting run down meeting Monday morning" Mackenzie moaned.
"Sorry to interrupt guys, but we've been trying to get a hold of both of you for over an hour so Charlie sent Sloan over to Will's and Maggie and I here when you didn't answer your phones" Jim explained.
Will and Mackenzie looked around at the tornado of clothing strewn about her apartment and realized their cell phones must be somewhere in there.
"So that's what that beeping was a while ago" Will said.
"I asked you where your mobile was."
"Yeah, like that was my first concern at that point in time Mac."
"Uh guys, work?" Maggie interjected. Her bosses whipped their heads around simultaneously to look at the young woman.
"Yeah, what' so damn urgent that we needed to be called on Saturday? There are other news anchors and producers at ACN" Will questioned as he took a seat on Mackenzie's couch and grabbed a blanket to cover himself.
"BP is what's so urgent. There's been another spill. This time in the Persian Gulf, but they'd still like Will covering it" Jim responded.
"Fine. Give us twenty minutes to shower and change and we'll be on our way. Not a word, ok guys?" Mackenzie looked at them soberly.
Suddenly, there was knocking at Mac's front door again and they all turned their heads toward the sound.
"How many people did Charlie send out in search of us?" Mackenzie groaned as she made her way to the door.
"All right…where is he?" Sloan shouted as she burst through the door. "Ah ha! I knew it. When the doorman said Will had never come home last night I started thinking."
"There's a frightening idea" Will mumbled.
"Hey! I have two doctorates. Do not knock the deductive powers of this mind William!" Sloan exclaimed, giving him a dirty look and continuing right on with her tirade.
"As I was saying, when the doorman mentioned that 'Mr. McAvoy' had not returned to the building I started wondering where he could have gone. I mean, just a few days ago the man was in the hospital, so unless he picked up one of the nurses I could only think of one fairly constant visitor that had been at the bedside of our favorite newsman. Thus, my detective skills led me here!"
"We're all thrilled for you Sloan. Really, I'm sure you play a mean game of Clue, but we've only been awake for about ten minutes and have not had any coffee. So unless you are volunteering to head on down to Starbuck's for us, go back to the office" Will said, exasperation leaking into his tone.
"And leave you two lovebirds here alone? You'll never make it to the office. Maggie, go get us some coffee while Jim and I ferret out all the pertinent details" Sloan said excitedly.
"Hey, why do I have to go get the coffee? I'm not Will's assistant anymore. I'm an associate producer!" Maggie replied indignantly.
"Fine. Rock, paper, scissors?" Sloan asked the young woman, holding her hand out.
"Oh my god! Everyone get out of my apartment! We will be at the studio as soon as we can!" Mackenzie yelled.
"Mackenzie, I have been waiting for this to happen for over a year! You can't leave me out in the cold now?" Sloan whined.
"I have been waiting for this to happen for four years Sloan. My sexual frustration overrides your curiosity. Now get the hell out!" Mackenzie nearly screamed.
Will watched as Jim, Maggie and Sloan all quickly scurried for the door. He couldn't hide his amusement at Mackenzie's little outburst.
"Four years Mac? Really?" he teased.
"I didn't say I hadn't had sex in four years. It just wasn't particularly good sex. Let's just say Wade was a fairly self-centered man, apparently in all aspects of his life, and leave it at that" Mackenzie smirked and then walked over to the couch and dropped onto Will's lap.
"What can I say…I'm a giver" Will replied, nuzzling her neck.
Mackenzie squirmed meaningfully against him and asked "do you really think they'll mind if we're a few minutes late?"
"Just a few minutes?" he asked.
"Ok, half an hour?"
He pushed himself up off the sofa holding Mackenzie against him, forcing her to wrap her legs around his waist.
"I can work with a half an hour" he told her, making his way back toward the bedroom.
"Oh, I know you can Billy."