Tess got the call before anyone else did. She knew before anyone heard the soft beep from the task desk. Her sister called long before the New Night team scrambled to get the story. She was worried of course, desperately worried, but she hid it well swallowing any hint of discomfort for her job. To be honest, she was probably in shock.
Tess knew she should have gone to Mac the second she heard, they'd be ahead of the game and reporting any news sooner rather than later was their job. But it didn't seem like breaking news at the time. It wasn't a national catastrophe, it would probably be reported on by smaller, local channels.
But it wasn't until it came up on the task desk in front of her, blaring the ugly red that she was dreading that she fell apart. She wanted to run to Connecticut. She wanted to hide in the bathroom and sob. But she couldn't, she had a job to do and despite her deeply personal connections to the story, she was going to do her job. So instead of running into the bathroom, she ran into Will's office.
Looking back on it, had she not been so personally connected she would have gone to Mac, she was the EP after all. But Tess was personally connected, and Will was a sort of work dad to her, to all of them. And the one thing she need now was her dad.
"Will." She said, to her credit rather stoically.
"Yeah." He was going over stories for the rundown meeting, and looked up to see Tess standing there, frozen. "Tess?"
"Look I knew a while ago, so don't be mad, but I didn't think it was breaking news, and I was worried but I have a job to do. But Will it came up red just now and I don't know what to do." Tess fought the urge to burst into tears, but wasn't succeeding very well.
"Tess. What happened?" Will was more attentive now, not just because they got a story that came up red, but Tess was far more distraught than she should be. What could have possibly have happened.
"Newtown Connecticut. There's a shooter at Sandy Hook Elementary, local police are there as well as SWAT. But Will, there's already been a lot of gunfire from inside the school."
Will's mouth hung open slightly. Whatever it was that he was expecting, that was not it. "Tess, how did you find out about this sooner?" He asked carefully, guessing the answer but hoping that he was dead wrong.
"My sister lives in Newtown. And my niece and nephew go to-" She couldn't even finish the sentence. Tess burst into tears, no longer able to hold back her anxiety. She felt helpless and lost, and she was utterly terrified.
Will got up in an instant and walked around his desk to hug Tess. He held her there comfortingly, whispering assurances in her ear. She cried into his shoulder.
After a minute, Will released her. "Go home. Go to Connecticut. Go to a bar for all I care, but get out of this office."
"What?" Tess asked, sniffly from all of the crying.
"This isn't going to be pretty. We are going to have to cover this like we would any other story and you shouldn't be here when we do. You should be with your sister, worrying about her kids and praying that they are all right."
Tess nearly burst into tears again, Mac had been right when she had said that he'd throw himself in front of a train to save them. How had she described it? Heart the size of a range rover. Collecting herself took a few seconds, but once she did her face was set, and she shook her head. "No. I need to be here. I need to know what's going on. I'll be useless to my sister, it's only going to add more strain. I told her to call me if she knew anything new, and I told her I would do the same. Like I said, I've got a job to do. And I promise I won't let my personal feelings get in the way of that."
Will just stared at her. There was a silence. Clearly Will was deciding something. Tess didn't blink, she knew it was going to be hard, but she had to do this. Will picked up his phone.
"Mac? Get in my office right now. I mean it, right now. And call Charlie and get him down here too."
It wasn't very long before Charlie, Will, Mac and Tess were sitting in Will's office.
"Will what's this about? And why is Tess in here?"
"Charlie I want you to call Tess's folks and give them my number. Tell them if they need anything at all, to call me directly and I'll take care of it. I also need you to book them and Tess's family a flight to New York and make reservations at the Hilton about a block away from Tess's place."
"Will, you don't have to-" Tess argued, but Will put his hand up and stopped her.
"Will what is going on?"
"By now I'm sure someone has seen Newtown on red?" Will answered.
"Yeah I've got most of the staff scrambling to get more information. This is going to be a hard one Will. But what's it got to do with-?"
"Tess's niece and nephew are currently in Sandy Hook." Will replied. Tess was on the verge of tears again.
"My God. Tess what are you still doing here?" Mac kneeled down to where Tess was sitting.
"She's determined to do her job despite how personal this is to her. I've tried to talk her out of it but she won't listen. I don't know what that is, but it's impressive."
"Tess, sweetheart are you sure?" Charlie asked. He looked as if he was on the verge of tears himself.
Tess swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. "Yeah. I'm sure."
"Well alright then. Let's get to work."
To say that day was hard was a tremendous understatement. Will felt like he did on 9/11, he had no idea what he was doing and if Mac hadn't been in his ear to help him carry on, he wouldn't have been able to make it through the broadcast.
It was one thing to hear it over and over again. To see images once in a while. But to constantly talk about it. To look at the images of slaughtered children over and over was almost more than anyone could bear.
Maggie had to leave to nurse a panic attack in the middle of a meeting, images of the events from Uganda replaying in her head. Kendra, Tamara and Jenny would start to cry silently in between phone calls. Elliot left and returned with his kids in tow, unwilling to leave them out of his sight. Sloan moved her work into Don's office. And once in a while you'd catch her being comforted by Don, quiet sobs coming from the room. Mac and Will moved their work into the newsroom. This team was their family and these kids were sort of theirs in a sense. They felt responsible. Reese came down every once in a while to check on morale, when Leona walked up to him and pulled him into her arms. A distraught mother in need of her son. He obliged willingly.
The youngest of the staff all called their parents. It was one of those moments where they felt like hopeless children, and only the sound of their parents' voices could alleviate the pain.
Everyone was most impressed with Tess, everyone agreeing that she was handling the work extremely well. And even though she'd have to leave her desk every once in a while, returning with red eyes and a puffy face, no one said anything. They gave her reassuring smiles and pats on the back, even Neal gave her a hug. When the day was over, when they reported all that they could, they went solemnly to Hang Chews. Not to celebrate a job well done, but to nurse the emotional injuries they were hit with all day.
That's when Tess got the call from her sister. There was a silence, as everyone crowded around her, prepared to comfort her and mourn her loss. Her hand went to her mouth, and tears streamed from her eyes. Everyone assumed the worst, their faces expressing as much. Finally she hung up, looking around at her fellow coworkers, who watched her with bated breath.
She smiled, tears still streaming down her face. "They're okay. They're home. Not a scratch on them."
Everyone cheered, and burst into applause. Suddenly revitalized with happy news, the team had a small victory to celebrate on an otherwise tragic day. Tess was suffocated by hugs and smiles, and a lot of love. Will promised her that her family would be joining her in New York for the holidays, all expenses paid for by him. She tried to protest but Will wouldn't hear of it.
"You are one of the best journalists, I have ever met. One of the very few that would have continued to do their job under such circumstances. You deserve it."
For the first time that day, Tess felt like crying for joy.