It was a surprise to no one when Leona became CEO of AWM and a few short years later she promoted Charlie to president of the news division.
Over the years Charlie allowed himself to forget about Mindy Roberts and truly only saw the blonde woman on the 44th floor as Leona Lansing. They were able to maintain their professional charade until September 11, 2001.
That morning, for the first time since the network's early months, Leona came down to the news division and stood next to Charlie in the back of control room A. As the day's events unfolded she would occasionally allow her arm to brush against Charlie's own. When the details of the passenger revolt and crash of flight 93 came through the newsroom she turned her face into his shoulder and cried.
After the second tower collapsed he quietly guided her out of the newsroom and up to his office. He held her as she let down her walls and allowed him to see her vulnerable and frightened. It was the only time since she hired him that he threw their rules out the window and called her Mindy. They spent the rest of the day in his office, splitting a bottle of scotch and alternating between coming up with creative ways to punish the conspirators responsible and theorizing where the country would go in the days to come. It was the first time in over a quarter of a century that they spoke about Vietnam, Michael and their childhood.
As the world settled again Leona distanced herself from him, not interacting with him in person unless absolutely necessary. The few times she had to speak directly to him she addressed him as Mr. Skinner. Her coldness hurt but Charlie understood what she was doing, reestablishing the boundaries they had shattered on that day.
He didn't begrudge her, they needed reestablishing. He followed her lead, calling her Ms. Lansing. He stopped putting in overtime and sent proxies to meetings where is presence was not absolutely required. Instead of joining her for lunch he would meet with Nathan who had begun working for the state department and had an office in Manhattan.
The years following 9/11 began a time in America more divisive than any Charlie could ever recall. He watched with disgust the level of pandering that was being pushed over the airwaves as politicians bent the truth and networks hyped up non-stories in the chase for illusive ratings. For the first time in his life Charlie began to be disillusioned with the news, even choosing to no longer watch it with Darla when he got home in the evenings.
No longer fulfilled with his work but feeling too old to start somewhere fresh and having no interest in retirement Charlie decided to take on a special project. From the very beginning Charlie had gotten along well with the network's rising star. It was clear to him that although very likely a certifiable genius Will McAvoy lacked some basic human experiences; something Charlie felt he could remedy.
Instead of spending hours debating broadcast content Charlie began encouraging Will to play hooky with him and go to local sporting events and waste away the days "Talking as menfolk do." Although they would never admit it to anyone, the two newsmen also spent a significant number of their outings going to the theater; on and off Broadway. It wasn't until Will came with Charlie to New York's annual car show that he realized he was beginning to think of the young anchor as a son.
A few years after September 11th Charlie seized upon the opportunity to hire another of the industry's young talents, an energetic young production associate whose American patriotism was contradicted by her English accent. Whatever story MacKenzie produced would be the bits that Charlie would watch and have bundled into presentations and reports as representative of the excellent journalism created by AWN staffers.
He found her idealism matched the fire he carried as a young man; seeing reporting of the world's news as a duty rather than a job. Will had been recently promoted to the 8pm anchor slot which meant he too had to jump into the ratings game but as an EP for the field production team MacKenzie was free to embrace the news for what it could be.
Charlie began inviting her to share a drink with he and Will at the end of the day, declaring that she kept them grounded and served as a reminder as to why Will and Charlie came to work in the morning. Although Will would roll his eyes and argue that he had his very own, personal reasons for getting up in the morning that had nothing to do with MacKenzie McHale it was no surprise when Will and MacKenzie began seeing each other.
For a time Charlie felt very blessed with two families; Darla and Nate at home and Will and MacKenzie at work. Of course, for Charlie, happiness was always fleeting.