A short while later they made their way down to the lobby where the crew was waiting. The men had already ordered drinks and were making checklists of equipment and supplies.
"You all look hard at work," Mackenzie told them, almost reminding herself not to grab Will's hand or lean into his side.
"Where are we headed today?" Will asked the group.
"Isn't that up to her?" one of the younger members of the crew asked, looking at Mac at little too appreciatively for Will's comfort. John, the eldest member of their borrowed crew, watched the staring match going on between the anchor man and the young sound tech with amusement.
"I'm going to get a drink," Will announced and marched toward the bar.
"I'm just going to go find the men's room," John said quietly, but he doubled back and headed toward Will.
"I used to be the same way about my wife," John told him as he sidled up to the bar.
"What?" Will asked, unsure what the man was talking about.
"Back there, with Josh, the sound technician? I used to be just like that with my wife. Another man so much as looked at her and I was ready to take a swing at him."
"I'm not sure what you've heard, but Mackenzie is not my wife," Will told him, swallowing some scotch to ease the growing ache he felt in his stomach when he saw that man oogling his Mackenzie.
"Ok, wife, girlfriend, significant other. Whatever the hell you want to call her. I'm just saying I know how you feel," John reassured him.
"Does everyone at ACN know about us? I thought Charlie told me you were new to the company?" Will asked.
"New to the company maybe, but I've been in this business a while and, try as I might not to listen to office gossip, some of it is hard to avoid. Especially when my wife reads about it in the tabloids and asks me if I know anything about you two."
"Ahh," Will sighed in recognition. "The email. Yeah, for all her know-how in the newsroom, Mackenzie has a pitiful lack of knowledge when it comes to anything technological." Will laughed a little, wondering if they would ever escape that damn email.
"She's great at what she does though," John said.
"Yeah, she is. The best in the business," Will agreed.
"Well then, I'd say you have it pretty good Mr. McAvoy. A great producer and a great woman. In your case, it all happens to come in a pretty magnificent looking package too, if you don't mind my saying."
Will nodded his head at the man, acknowledging his comments about Mackenzie for what they were…admiration, not flirting.
"I say this with all due respect Mr. McAvoy," John started, but Will cut him off.
"Call me Will, please. When I hear Mr. McAvoy I look around for my father and the man was an unmitigated asshole so I generally prefer not to be reminded of him."
"Ok, Will then. Let me give you a little piece of advice from my nearly twenty years of marriage. Women like it if you're a little protective of them. Maybe even a little jealous, but start a fist fight over their honor and next thing you know you're sleeping on the sofa," John told him with a wink, and headed back toward the crew.
John wasn't telling Will anything he didn't know. Hell, Mackenzie was one of the most self-reliant, independent women he had ever met. And he knew that grabbing her around the waist and pulling her down onto his lap in front of the crew just so that idiot sound guy wouldn't look at her anymore would be a great way to assure he spent the rest of this trip taking cold showers and sleeping alone.
He took a deep breath to calm his temper and headed back over to join the group.
"Will, we're all going to grab a quick bite to eat and then head over to the Army base that's training the Afghani military to take over. Sound good to you?" she asked.
"That sounds fine Mac," he replied, trying like hell to fight the urge to pull her a little closer to him.
"Good, I'm going to go find the waiter. Will, can you come with me please?" she asked a little too sweetly. Shit, he remembered that tone. It was the one she used when she was mad as hell but didn't want anyone but him to know it.
He followed her across the room like a schoolboy about to be scolded. She pulled him into a dark corner of the room and kissed him until he couldn't breathe.
"What was that for?" he asked, shocked that he had been rewarded for his caveman behavior.
"That was your one and only warning Will. I know, given our past, you are going to be protective and territorial around me. I understand where that fear comes from, but I won't spend the rest of my life having you wonder if I'm going to sleep with every man who shows me a little interest. You're it for me Will and you have to believe that I would never break your trust that way again."
He rested his forehead against hers and nodded.
"I'm sorry Mac. I overreacted, but it wasn't you I didn't trust it was that jackass that was looking at you," he whined, winding his fingers through hers.
"Ok, but I can handle that myself. I'll just make him stay up all night monitoring our connection to New York," she told him.
"I like the way your mind works Ms. McHale," he whispered into her ear.
"You'll like it even more later tonight in our hotel room. Now, get back over there and act cordial Will. No peeing circles around me to mark your territory please," she admonished, but placed a quick kiss on his cheek.
"She's going to be the death of me," he mumbled to himself. "And I'm going to love every minute of it."
After they'd finished eating they were driven to the Army base. Mac got out and spoke with one of the guards. When she came back she explained that the press attaché would be out to speak with them in a few minutes. When he arrived he immediately recognized Mac.
"Mackenzie McHale, I never thought I'd see you over here again," the man said and hugged Mac.
"Jeff, it's great to see you are still in one piece. You're well?"
He smiled and said, "I am. Who do you have with you?"
"Will McAvoy, Captain Jeff Sawyer, press attaché."
"Thanks for taking the time to meet with us," Will said.
"No problem. How long are you here?"
"Just a few days. We're here to cover the troop withdrawal. We were hoping to talk to both US and Afghan troops," Mac said.
"That shouldn't be a problem. I can arrange that. Any particular command level you're looking for, Mac?"
"I'd like a spread, from both, if possible."
"You've got it, give me an hour or so and I'll get something set up. There are lots of opinions in the marketplace," he added.
"Thanks, I'll see you later. It was good to see you, Jeff."
"You, too, Mac."
After they were back in the vehicles Will asked Mac, "how long have you known Captain Sawyer?"
"A long time. Last time I saw him was in the Green Zone."
"Are we going to the marketplace he was talking about?"
"Yes, to at least get some background. Are you okay with that?"
"Yes."
The marketplace was busy. People everywhere, buying and selling goods, sitting at café tables, eating and socializing. Will was looking around, chatting with people, getting a feel for the place. Mac was able to find a member of the new government to speak with them, although not on camera.
After they'd gotten enough background they went back to the Army base to wait on Jeff. While they were waiting the guys were getting B-Roll footage. They saw an old car racing toward the gate and yelled at Mac and Will to get in the truck. They were rushing for the truck when the car rammed the gate and exploded. Will saw Mac hit the truck and slide to the ground as he was being thrown to the ground.
"Mac!" he screamed, rushing to her side as quickly as possible.
"Fuck," he heard her say as she tried to sit up.
"Stay still, Mac. Are you hurt?"
"You're bleeding, Will," she said reaching for him.
He hadn't realized he was injured. "I'm fine. Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
Quickly medics and army personnel surrounded them and brought them on base to the infirmary. Mac and Will, it turned out, were the only ones injured. Will had a gash on his forehead that needed a few stitches. Mac was just bruised. Her doctor let her up and she went to check on Will. He was lying on a stretcher with his arm over his eyes. She moved his arm and smiled at him.
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm okay, Mac." He knew she was worried about him.
"What did the doctor say?" she asked.
"They gave me a CT just to be sure I don't have a concussion, they are still reading the results."
Two doctors came in as they were talking.
"What's the verdict?" Will asked.
Both of the doctors looked at Mac. "I'd like her to stay," Will added.
"You do not have a concussion but we are going to need to put a few stitches in to close your head wound. This is our best guy for stitches. I'll leave you to it," the first doctor said.
"Thank you," Will said to the doctor's retreating form.
"So, Mr. McAvoy, have you had stitches before?" the doctor asked.
"Yes, I know the drill."
"Ma'am, are you all right to see this?" the doctor asked Mac.
"Yes, I'm fine, thank you."
"Okay, I'm going to get a suture tray and I'll be back with a nurse in just a few minutes."
Mac sat on the side of his bed, holding his hand and playing with his hair. "What's with the long face Will? We're both fine."
"After we get out of here, okay?"
"Okay. I sent the guys to get more B-Roll for us. I'm glad we're using mostly packages in the morning."
"Me, too. Are you sure you're all right?"
"Nothing broken but I'm going to be sore and bruised I'm sure all along my side."
He sat up and hugged her tight, not letting her go. The doctor coughed and Will laid back down. The doctor moved to Will's right side and placed a protective sheet over him with a hole for the doctor to put in his stitches. Mac was on his other side, holding his hand. She could see when the doctor was administering the numbing agent and felt his hand tighten on hers. She picked up his hand and kissed the back. Her other hand was on his knee, which she was caressing. After a few minutes the doctor explained that he was done and gave Will instructions about keeping the wound dry. He gave them some waterproof tape and suggested putting plastic over the wound when he showered. Will thanked the doctor and nurse and he was released.
As they were walking out of the hospital Jeff joined them. "Are you guys okay?"
"We're fine, Jeff, thanks for checking on us," Mac said.
"There are still people around, if you want to talk to them tonight," Jeff said.
Mac looked at Will and he nodded. "Give me a few minutes to get my crew back here and we'll do this. Thank you."
"Any time, Mac. I'm glad you guys are all right," he said walking away from them.
They walked off of the base as Mac was calling her team to get them back so they could do the interviews. Will took her hand as soon as they'd cleared the gate and pulled her to him, holding her tight. When she disconnected with the team she put her phone in her pocket and put her arm around him.
"I love you, Mac and I'm glad we came here but how did you do this for over two years?"
"I think it would have been worse staying in New York and running into you at every turn. Hearing about who you were dating and what your life was like without me. The thought of that was more than I could bear Will. I had to leave."
"But here Mac? The other side of the world in the middle of a fucking war zone? You couldn't have just gone back to London and worked for the BBC or something?" he asked, tightening his hold on her and resting his chin on her head.
"No. You know the news business Will. Everyone knows everything about each other. Even London wouldn't have put me far away enough from the gossip and the rumors. And besides, I didn't think it mattered where I went. I didn't think much mattered then Will," she whispered softly into his chest.
He swallowed harshly at that. Did she really not care what happened to her? She had to have known what that would have done to him? That thought brought him back to what he had been wondering about before they even left New York. Would she ever be able to tell him why she had cheated on him and why she threw herself into a war zone when they split up?
"Don't ever do that again Mackenzie, ok? I was angry and I was hurt but there was no way that I would have wanted you to put yourself in harm's way just to get away from dealing with us. And don't you ever care that little about yourself ever again."
"I'm still working on forgiving myself Will. It's going to take some time."
He pulled away from her. "Well stop it, because I forgave you a long time ago. I just needed to get my ass in gear and tell you that." He leaned down and kissed the crown of her head just as their crew rejoined them. They broke apart looking slightly guilty.
"Ok guys, let's finish up with the interview with the Commander of Operations here and then we can head back to the hotel. I'll need you guys to send the rough cut of our tapes back to New York before you turn in for the night," she informed them in a short, clipped tone that said there was to be no discussion of what they had just witnessed.
Everyone finished their work quickly and amazingly calmly despite all that had happened that afternoon. Once their interviews were finished they all piled back into their SUV's and headed for the hotel.
When they returned to their room, Will flopped onto the bed and pulled a pillow over his head.
"Headache?" Mackenzie asked, as she shed her sweaty clothing and threw a large t-shirt on.
"Hmm," he mumbled, nodding.
"Take these," she told him, pulling the pillow away from his head and thrusting some Tylenol and a bottle of water at him. He swallowed the pills and laid back.
"Drink the water Will. The headache could be a result of dehydration, not just that conk on the head."
He obeyed and downed half the bottle in a few swigs and then curled back up on the mattress. Mackenzie left him alone in the dim room and went into the bathroom and filled up the tub with hot water. She threw off her t-shirt and climbed in. Very quickly her eyes closed and she nodded off.
She wasn't sure how long she had been there when she heard the taps being turned on again and cracked her eyes open to find Will letting more hot water into the tub.
"Sorry, I guess I was a little more tired than I thought," she said, shivering slightly in the now tepid water.
"Scoot forward," he told her. She did, and then waited while he dropped his jeans and shirt to the floor and got in behind her. She lay back against his chest and closed her eyes again, until she felt his arms wrap around her and his hands come to rest on the scars on her belly.
"Stop it Will. I'm not going to spend the rest of our lives having you doing penance every time you so much as glimpse at my stomach," she said wearily.
"That's not what I'm doing Mac. Will I always blame myself for this? Maybe a little, but I'm more concerned with the fact that you seem to be willing to continually believe you deserve to suffer," he said sadly.
"What?!" she asked, so stunned that she started to sit up in the tub, but he pulled her back down against his chest.
"Before we left New York I was wondering how we were ever going to move forward if we couldn't talk about a few things. What happened to you in Pakistan, what I said to you on that voicemail…we had a lot of unfinished business Mac. I'm glad we've finally been able to deal with some of it. But there's still something I need to know Mackenzie."
"What?" she whispered.
"Why it happened in the first place? Why did you sleep with Brian?" he asked, still keeping a tight hold on her. Because, maybe, if she wasn't looking at him she could talk. Maybe like this, wrapped tightly in his arms but not looking into his eyes, she could finally tell him why it all fell apart. He thought he already had a pretty good idea, but he couldn't quite believe it was true.
"You were too good," she said so quietly he almost didn't hear her.
"What the hell does that mean Mac?"
"You were too good for me. Brian wasn't. So I went back to him."
"And then you went to a war zone to punish yourself?" he asked incredulous.
She just nodded.
"Jesus Christ Mackenzie!" he shouted, thunking his head on the tile wall behind him because that's all he could think to do. Had he been standing he probably would have punched a hole in a wall.
"I'm sorry," she said meekly.
"For God's sake, stop apologizing, would you please? This has to stop Mac. I don't know where the hell you learned to devalue yourself, but you are worth loving. You are worth being with and you are sure as hell worth every last cent they pay you to do your job. It was not your fault that anyone, including you, got hurt that day in Islamabad. It was not your fault that Brian dumped you. And it was not your fault that we didn't work out. At least not entirely. I should have seen that you were scared. If I had maybe we would have talked about it and you wouldn't have panicked and run back to that asshole."
Will stopped and took a deep breath, he heard her crying and he reached around her to wipe her tears.
"Stand up, let's get out of this water before we're shivering," he told her, pushing her forward. She stood and he followed. He hadn't been able to see it in the bathtub, but her entire left side was bruised and her left arm and leg were scraped and scratched from the gravel she must have fallen into as she hit the ground. He carefully dried her off and pulled a robe around her and then did the same for himself.
He guided her to the bed and nearly had to push her under the covers. He got in and wrapped himself around her. Soon, though, the quiet was shattered by the phone on the bedside table ringing.
"What?!" Will barked into the phone.
"Will?" Charlie Skinner shouted back.
"Yeah. Sorry about that Charlie, it's been a long day. What did you need?"
"I heard about the car bombing. Your crew sent us footage of the damage to run with our coverage. I wanted to hear your voice for myself…make sure you two were ok."
"Yeah, we're fine Charlie. I've got a few stitches and Mac's pretty banged up, but other than that we're all fine. We'll be on the air as planned in the morning," he reassured the man.
"You two doing ok over there? No screaming matches yet?" Charlie asked. Will appreciated the concern, he did, but he wasn't ready to talk to anyone about his relationship with Mackenzie yet. Not even Charlie. Maybe it was selfish of him, but he really wanted Mac to himself for awhile. He needed time to convince her that she was worth fighting for….that they were worth fighting for. And that this time it was going to work.
And, truth be told, he wasn't really ready to share her just yet. He knew once they got back to New York they would be inundated with the opinions of those around them. Sloan would be eager for details. Charlie would be chomping at the bit for a night of drinking and discussion. And, Lord knew, the tabloids would be ready and waiting for them to step out in public and make it official.
Despite the less than hospitable surroundings, at least these hotel rooms and long road trips gave them some time alone and disconnected from the world.
"Will?" Charlie's voice snapped him back to reality. Mackenzie had curled up into his side and was trying to find a comfortable position that wouldn't aggravate all her bruises and scrapes.
"I'm here Charlie. Look, I've got to go. We'll be back in a couple of days and I'll talk to you then. Just let everyone there know that we're fine, ok?"
"I'll do that. You take care of her Will."
"Always Charlie. Always" Will replied and hung up the phone. He reached over and grabbed the Tylenol bottle and the water and handed them to Mackenzie.
"Take these Mac. You'll be up in the middle of the night tossing and turning if you don't. And you'll be sore tomorrow."
She took the pills from him and gulped them down and then curled back into his side.
"Sleep Mac. We have to be up early," he said quietly, as he stroked the hair back out of her face.
"Mmkay," she whispered.
"Don't even think this conversation is over though Mackenzie," he said as he pulled her closer and let sleep overtake him.
The alarms on their phones went off to wake them up. Will sat up and silenced both phones and looked at Mac. The skin he could see looked worse than it did earlier. He knew she was going to be sore.
"Mac, wake up," he said hoping to ease her out of her sleep.
"I'm up," she said still lying next to him with her eyes closed.
"Why don't you stay in bed, I can get Jim to cue me from New York."
Her eyes flew open, just like he knew they would and she sat up, ready to fight with him. He smiled at her.
"Bastard," she said smiling at him.
"Want to take a shower and see if the steam will ease some of the stiffness?"
"I'll try anything at this point. Are there any Tylenol left?" she asked.
"You want something stronger?"
"No, I've got to be able to function," she said, taking the medicine bottle from him. "Will you please start the shower, extra hot water?"
He got out of bed, took off his boxers and walked into the bathroom. A couple of minutes later she heard, "the water is extra hot, Mackenzie."
He saw her moving very slowly toward the shower. When she opened the shower door he pulled her to him and said, "can I do anything?"
She shook her head and eased under the hot water. She was leaning back against his chest with his arms around her. She was letting the water and the steam ease her aching muscles, wincing though, as the water hit some of the scrapes and scratches on her legs. "How's your head?" she asked.
"Good, no pain this morning."
She turned in his arms and pushed his hair back so she could see the bandage over his stitches. He'd put the plastic over the bandage like the doctor told him to do. She smiled at him and turned back around.
"After we do the broadcast lets come back and sleep for a while, give ourselves some time to recover," he suggested.
"That sounds good. I think you and I need to talk some and I need to try to explain a few things to you."
"I'd like that Mac," he said kissing her temple.