Author's Note: Hello everyone! I have two other fics that I am writing, and I feel dumb for getting myself involved with a third. However, this idea bit me in the ass during the final, and I wanted to write something post-series where Peggy and Don had an interaction after his suicidal phone call. I don't know how often I will be updating this one, but after I am done with 'This Is Not a Love Story' I will be able to focus more attention on it. So read, and if you enjoy it, please review!

On November 23rd, 1970 Don Draper walked back into the office of McCann Erikson. Employees stared and whispered as he turned corners, but it didn't bother him. He made a slow but confidant beeline for Jim Hobart's office, and ignored the protests of his secretary as he opened the door. Jim, and a few other men who Don didn't know, looked up in surprise. Jim's face immediately turned dark.

"Draper. I see you've finally come back. Unannounced, just as you left." Don gave short nods to the other men in the room.

"I had some urgent business I needed to take care of." He replied evenly, and his openness and lack of malice took Hobart by surprise. Jim turned to his employees.

"And it appears we have some urgent business to take care of now as well. Gentlemen, I'm sorry, could you leave us alone for a few minutes? We'll have to reschedule the meeting." The others collected their things and walked out, shutting the door behind them. Jim went and sat on the corner of his desk, eyeing the younger man suspiciously.

"You've been gone for over seven months, Don. Not only that, but we just showed up to work to find out that you didn't feel like coming in anymore, and we didn't know if you were coming back." Don nodded.

"I apologise. It was inconsiderate and unprofessional." Jim looked critically, unsure of how to deal with Don's sudden bit of humility.

"We've divided all of your accounts among all the other creative directors." He said finally.

"I understand. I know that you must have gotten along just fine without me." Don replied evenly.

"Then why did you bother coming back?" Don put his hands in his pockets.

"I still have a contract with you, and I didn't want to leave things unfinished. The way I see it, either I can serve the remaining four years and 5 months, if you want me to, or you can buy me out and be done with me. If we go the first route, I will be retiring the minute my contract ends." Silence hung in the air for a few seconds while Jim considered his options.

"Having you back will be more of a disruption than it is worth. You will pay the $100,000 fee for breaking the contract, and we will send you the paperwork to buy you out."

"Great." Don replied. "Let me know when I can come in and sign everything." He turned on his heel and walked out of the office.

There was a knock on Peggy's door, and she grumbled as she looked at her watch. Her secretary was on one of her usual extended lunches, of course.

"Come in." She called, and her jaw dropped as she saw Don walk in, impeccably dressed as always, although looking a little more tanned than usual.

"Hello Peggy." He smiled and closed the door behind him.

"Don!" She exclaimed, and jumped out of her chair and rushed over to hug him. Surprised, he returned the embrace, giving her a tight squeeze as she hung onto him for dear life. "God damn it Don!" She felt a few tears rush out, and she looked up, bidding them to stop. "Where have you been? I have been worried sick about you for the last two weeks! I thought you were going to kill yourself! I was so scared. I thought about you all the time and I'd hoped that you would call again, just so that I would know that you were safe and-"

"Shh Peggy." He shushed, stroking her hair. "I'm here now. I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to hear your voice. I'm back now. Everything is OK." Peggy sniffled and broke the embrace, but took both of his hands and squeezed them, softly smiling through her tears.

"I'm just so happy to see you."

"I'm happy to see you too, Peggy." He smiled reassuringly, and let go of her hands. "I was actually wondering if you wanted to grab some lunch with me. I know you never leave your desk, so I thought it might be nice if you got out and stretched your legs." Peggy nodded, and wiped her nose on the back of her hand.

"Of course." She went to her desk and retrieved her purse. "Where to?"

"I don't know the best places to eat around here. It's your call." She waved him off.

"Everywhere around here is shit. We'll go to the place with the fewest visible cockroaches."

"So, they're buying you out?" Peggy asked. Don nodded.

"Yep. I'm retired now."

"Huh. Retired and you don't even have a grey hair yet. Must be nice." She replied teasingly. He smiled and looked down at the table bashfully.

"Actually, my beard has been coming in grey for quite a while now. It's why I never grew a moustache, even when Roger and Ted started."

"That was just a good life decision. Besides, you've never been one to follow the crowd. That's what makes you great." Don felt himself glow a little from her praise, and was amazed at how at home he felt right there and then.

"Where are you staying? Didn't you sell your apartment before you left?"

"Meredith finished off the sale. I'm living at the Roosevelt right now. I have to get apartment hunting soon."

"Well, with all your free time, that shouldn't be a problem." Their attention turned upwards as a slim woman in a uniform approached them.

"Are you ready to order?" The waitress asked.

"Yes. I will have the bacon cheeseburger." Peggy replied, handing her menu off to the blonde.

"And for you, sir?"

"I will have the chicken salad sandwich." He replied. He went to give the menu back, but Peggy leaned over the table and caught his wrist, giving him a warning glance.

"Don..." She looked apologetically at the waitress before returning her attention to him. "You don't want to get anything that isn't cooked around here." Don's eyes widened, and he turned back to the teen.

"I will have the same."

"And an order of fries to go with it." Peggy smiled charmingly to her.

"Sure. Your orders will be right up." Don smiled knowingly at Peggy as the waitress walked away.

"Thanks for saving me." He said affably.

"It's a horrible mistake you only make once." He chuckled, but then his face turned serious.

"Peggy, I have to admit, I didn't just ask you out for lunch to see you."

"Oh." Peggy felt a pit form in her stomach. She instinctively opened her purse to search out her cigarettes and lighter.

"I have a very, very large favour to ask of you." He started, and although she had never seen it before, it looked like Don Draper was nervous. She anxiously lit her cigarette and took in as much nicotine as she could.

"What is it?" She coughed out. He sighed and leaned back in the booth.

"Betty has lung cancer. It is terminal."

"Jesus Don." Peggy's eyes went wide, and she reached out her hand to cover his on the table. "I am so sorry." His green eyes gazed directly at her, and feeling guilty, Peggy stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray.

"The thing is, she doesn't want me to have the kids when she passes." He paused briefly. "She doesn't want Henry to have them either. She wants to send them off to live with her brother and his wife." Peggy frowned.

"That's odd. Why?" Don leaned forward, and hunched on his elbows.

"She says they need a mother, a female influence. Henry and I aren't enough by ourselves apparently." He looked down and took a deep breath before meeting her gaze again. "I know this is a lot to ask, but I need you to pretend to be my girlfriend." Peggy blinked, and for the second time in the day, her jaw dropped.

"What?"

"I need you to pretend that we're in love, and that we're planning on getting married, and that you really want to be involved in my kid's lives. I need to get Betty's approval to have the kids after she passes." Peggy took her hand off of his, still staring slack-jawed at her former boss.

"Don... how long does this have to go on for? I mean, assuming you do get Betty's seal of approval, and I go around and meet your kids and your family, what happens then? Do we break up right after? 'Sorry, actually being a step-mom is a shitty job and fuck all of you'?" She reached into her purse for a second cigarette, staring at Don defiantly as she lit up.

"Well, the doctors gave her about 7 more months, and I don't know. We'd have to stay together for at least a little while after, maybe another 8 months or so, but we'll have to see how it plays out. We may be able to break out engagement sooner."

"You want me to stick around after she passes? Where am I going to live? Won't it ring alarm bells that you're engaged to a woman you're not even living with?"

"I thought about that. I am going to get an apartment in the city again. It'll be a big one, with more than enough room for all of us. I'll move the kids to a school in New York. You can live there until our fake relationship ends, and when it's over I'll give you the money to buy another place for yourself." Peggy shook her head.

"So you want me to spend over a year of my life playing doting fiancee? I have to put my life on hold for 15 months? I mean, you barely spent any time with your kids for the last decade I've known you. You never talked about them, you never had pictures on your desk. Why the change of heart now? Have you considered that they might be better off with her brother?" Don's face was pained.

"I changed a lot while I was out, Peggy. I realized that I haven't been there for my children, and I want to be. I know I can't start over, but I can start being a better father to them. I'm retiring, I have more than enough money to see them all through college. I can finally be where I'm meant to be."

"Don, I have a life. I own an apartment building. I am the landlord for dozens of crackheads, I can't just get up and leave that." She reflected for a moment, and paused. "Well, I mean, I could just get up and leave that. It's really the least of my worries. But I have to lie, and tell my mother and sister that I am engaged to you? Remember, they still think you knocked me up. And besides Don," her looked around and lowered her voice. "I gave up my baby. I am not good with kids, and I am not mother material." Don shook his head.

"That isn't true. Look, the reason why I am asking you, and you in particular, is for Sally. I could just pick a woman off the street, romance her, and trick her into marrying me. But Sally is this... she's this strong, hard headed, incredibly intelligent woman. She is going places. She's not going to be a housewife like Betty was. Is." He caught himself as a lump formed in his throat. "She is going to need a lot of encouragement and guidance, and I can't think of a woman I respect more than you. She has a lot to learn, and I think that you would be wonderful for her."

"Don..." She shook her head again and took a long drag. "Things have changed since you left. Stan and I... we're in love. We've been dating the last couple of weeks, which is short, I know, but what we have is so... strong." Don's eyes widened.

"Oh." Peggy nodded and took another drag, ashing her cigarette.

"I can't just run off and give you a year or two of my life. I have responsibilities. I have found the love of my life. And I can't fuck that up now." Don looked crestfallen, and Peggy hated that his time away seemed to have made him so much easier to read.

"I see." Don pursed his lips. "I'm sorry to have bothered you then."

"Here you go." The waitress seemed to appear out of nowhere as she slapped the burgers down on the table. "The fries will right out."

"Actually, could you box these up? I don't think we're hungry anymore."