After they had hung up Will quickly stepped onto the elevator to ride down to the ground floor. Outside he took the time to write some autographs for a number of waiting fans and answered some questions, before he climbed into the back of his waiting car.

During the ride his thoughts went back to the conversation he'd just had with Mac. It had been an awkward moment when she had told him that she'd watched the show. He didn't feel comfortable that she did, although he probably should have expected it.

He really wasn't proud of what he had done for the past couple of years; the ratings had simply been more important to him than the content and it had been so easy. But now...?

He had thought a lot about 'the good old times' during the last days and had remembered how much he had enjoyed working with Mac.
She had always insisted on high quality content for their program; her goal being to bring the important events of the world to their audience, to join the dots between different events around the world and show how they could impact the US. At the same time she had motivated him to do better, and he had followed her lead, although to this day he wasn't sure if he had simply wanted to please her or if she had managed to winkle the best out of him because she knew him so well. Probably both...

He knew he could do better than he had for the past two years, and maybe he should start to get his act together and just do it. With Mac watching him it would definitely be worth loosing some viewers.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The following night Mac settled in bed with one of her favourite books and read for an hour before turning off the light, however not forgetting to set her alarm to wake up in time to watch Newsnight.

When it went off in the middle of the night she needed a moment to orient herself, but then she sat up and turned on the TV.

The second Will came into view on the screen, making her heart speed up a beat, she knew something was different. He appeared to be more present, more alert and he even started with a segment on health care reform, interviewing a Republican Senator afterwards and being a little tougher on him than she had expected. Still, the greater part of the show consisted of coffee-table topics, easy to digest snacks – she refused to call it food for thought – for the audience.

Close to the end of the show she sent Will a message to call her once he got home, and when her phone rang about half an hour later she smiled; he really must have hurried to get to his place. „Hi there, that was quick."

„Well, seeing the time you texted... I didn't want to keep you up longer than necessary. Did you watch tonight's show?"

„I did." Grinning to herself she didn't say anything more, goading Will a little, and as expected he couldn't resist to follow up, sounding a little nervous.

„And? What did you think?"

Mac remained silent for a moment, but feeling the uncertainty radiating off Will she gave him the answer he was waiting for. „It was actually better than last night... I liked that you had Senator Bancroft on, even though he's the celebrated newcomer and darling of the media everybody likes to see. But at least you asked a couple of good questions."

„Hey, I had to fight my EP to get a politican on at all; it's not that my viewers expect that!"

While secretly pleased that Will had fought for some substantive content Mac could vividly imagine the pout on his face right now and snorted. „Yeah, and whose fault is that?"

For a moment Will was quiet but then he turned serious. She was right, he had been taking the easy road these past years and he was determined to change that, starting right now with this conversation.
„You know... After I left CNN I had to do something completely different. I knew otherwise I would always compare how we did things, and I couldn't stand thinking about you all the time. So I changed the format and then... Well, the ratings went up and... It was so simple and so I just stayed in this bubble.. As long as the audience loved me it didn't matter that I was actually lonely..."

Mac's heart broke a little when she heard him say those words, and she could only whisper „I'm sorry, Billy..."

Taking a deep breath Will decided to jump in feet first. „It's okay, Mac... When I talked to your father the other day... I... I realized that I had my part in all of this... I just never allowed myself to think about it before."

„No, Billy! You were wonderful, it was my fault. I should have talked to you instead of... Well, you know..." She sighed and snuggled deeper into the covers, needing some sort of comfort while her thoughts went back to a time she had tried so hard to forget, but Will already went on.

„That might be, Mac, but I am not even sure that I would have understood it back then. I just wanted to be with you, and it had never occured to me that it might be too much too soon."

Mac remained quiet, overwhelmed by what he had just admitted to and at a loss of words. Will however, incredibly nervous about the whole situation, took her silence as a sign that she wasn't ready to talk about it, so he decided to change the subject for now.

„Mac... When you were in New York you said you would meet with CNN when you come back. Are you seriously considering a new assignment abroad?"

Taking a deep breath she replied, wondering why he was asking. „I... I am at least open for it... But... maybe I could get a studio job with them again, so I could stay in New York..."

„Why... Why don't you? I could use a new EP..." He heard Mac's breath hitch and held his own. Would she be prepared to come back?

After a long minute of silence during which all kind of negative scenarios ran through Will's overactive brain, she finally spoke again. „Would you be willing to change the format of your show?"

„Would you be willing to be my EP?"

Mac felt a tingling warmth running through her whole body and had to pause, so that he wouldn't hear the wide smile that had taken over her face. Finally she whispered „If you'd be willing to do a show to be proud of..."

Will's reply was equally quiet. „If you were my EP..."

Again Mac didn't immediately answer, but then she let out a happy laugh. „Of course I would like to be your EP... If you think you can work with me again?"

Now Will smiled as well, utter relief taking over. „I'm starting to fucking think you are the only EP I'm able to work with..."

Grinning widely she couldn't think of anything other to say than „Well, then..."

„Well, then..." Will sounded elated when he repeated her words. She would come back to him!

After a moment of silence, though, he heard a big sigh on the other end of the line, one that didn't sound relieved or happy at all, and his stomach flipped. Did she have second thoughts? „Mac...? Are you alright?"

„Will, I would love to be your EP again, but... you should know... Maybe you'll change your mind when..." Will got more and more anxious, but only after taking a deep breath Mac could finish her sentence. „I've talked to my father... I know what you've told him..."

„Oh..."

Suddenly her stomach seemed to tighten in a hard knot. „Oh..? What... Didn't... didn't you mean it?"

Will was silent for a moment, breathing loudly into the phone. „I did. I do! I just... I would have liked to tell you myself, at the right moment."

Her relieved sigh was clearly audible over the phone and with a smile in her voice she said „You still can... But... Why didn't you tell me in New York?"

Will shrugged, although she couldn't see him. „You didn't want to talk, so I thought you weren't ready to hear..."

„I've always wanted to hear that... Though I might have thought you were just saying it because of what has happened..." Mac sighed. „Still, it doesn't solve anything, does it? I mean, there's Brian we haven't talked about yet..." Her voice was very quiet and hesitant now. She hated to bring it up, but she knew that there was no alternative. „If you are only saying all this because you thought I had died, but in reality you still hate me, then that's no basis for a future together."

Will didn't have to think about his answer. Not once had he hated her since he had seen her again, and right now he wasn't sure if he ever had or if he had just convinced himself of it to make it easier.

„I don't, Mac! I admit that I hadn't really thought everything through before I got Jim Walton's phone call; I was just too caught up in my anger and... I think I needed that to protect myself." He hesitated, but decided that the truth was the only way to go here. „To be honest, if you had just shown up at my doorstep without any of this, I probably would have slammed the door in your face... But when I thought you were dead and I would never get another chance to talk to you, to understand what had been going on back then... I...it... I suddenly realized that this, us, is so much more important than anything else I had been hanging on to..."

Will paused and took a deep breath, determined to not get distracted by the single quiet sob he had heard through the phone. „And Mac, I've read your e-mails during the last days... I think I understand now why you went to see him... I didn't give you the space you needed... But I can do that, I can change!"

Mac laughed under tears. „Oh Billy, you don't have to. I don't want you to. That was at the beginning, when I was still hung up on that jerk, and I just needed time. I'd always thought what we had would go away, that it couldn't last, but you continued to be so sweet and caring and I kept asking myself what the fuck I was doing... Once I knew that I loved you... Well, if it didn't sound creepy I would say that I wanted to spend every minute of every day with you... And that has never changed... I... I miss you, Will..."

„That's not creepy at all..." She could hear the happiness in his voice. „And I miss you, too..."

Her cheeks started to hurt from the wide smile that seemed to be carved into her face, but there was one more thing she needed to say. „Billy? I love you,... I have never stopped."

„MacKenzie..." Will breathed her name, suddenly feeling as if a ton of bricks had been taken off his mind and grateful that it wasn't too late. „I love you, too..."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Waking up the next morning Mac immediately remembered the phone call that had lasted for almost another hour until the sun had already come up in London and Will had told her to finally get some sleep. She still felt elated, giddy with excitement and glee, and after a quick shower she went downstairs.

It was a beautiful spring day and her parents were drinking a mid-morning cup of tea on the terrace, looking up when she stepped outside to join them.

„Good morning, Darling." Claire McHale smiled at her. „Did you sleep well? You certainly slept in late today."

„I did, Mom, but I didn't sleep the whole night." Pouring herself a cup of tea she continued. „Will and I talked for a while last night."

„Oh, that is nice, isn't it, Edward?"

„I'm glad you did, Mac." Her father agreed. „And judging by that glow on your face I assume it went well?"

Placing the tea pot back on the table she smiled at him. „It couldn't have gone better. He is in love with me, I told him that I love him, and he asked me to come to New York to be his producer." She gently squeezed her mother's hand. „So yes, I am really, really happy."

„So are we, Honey, so are we, although it would have been nice to have you here a little bit longer."

„Well, I won't leave right now, we'll still have a few days before I have to go back. Let's make some plans."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The next days went by quickly while she was spending a lot of quality time with her family, visiting an old childhood friend, relaxing with a good book and taking refreshing midday naps. Her mother spoiled her at any given opportunity and her wound healed nicely. Highlights of her days though were the late night chats with Will. They had made it a habit to talk after his show and were already starting to plan how to change it. Will had talked to Charlie who assured him he would be happy to have McKenzie McHale on board, her reputation preceding her, and an interview had already been set up for when she would be back in New York.

They also spent a lot of time talking about their past, about what had happened to them during the last couple of years as well as what their future would bring. Painful memories came up, but they both knew they had to work through them and neither wanted to wait any longer to do so.

Not for the first time the moment where Will had learned of Mac's alleged death came up one night and with a shaky voice he admitted what he hadn't dared to tell her before . „When I heard... After I had talked to your father... I almost jumped off the balcony..."

Mac drew in a sharp breath but didn't know what to say. She wasn't sure if her reaction hadn't been the same if she had been in his place so she only exhaled his name. „Billy..."

„You saved me, you know?" His voice now sounded a little steadier. „I heard your voice in my head that told me not to do it and I couldn't anymore."

„Billy..." Again she was only able to whisper his name, trying to hide that her eyes had filled up with tears. „Oh, how I wish I could hold and kiss you right now..."

Will's eyes went wide. Suddenly his mind was filled with pictures of Mac in his arms, of a naked MacKenzie stretched out on his bed, and memories of their time together hit him with full force. Up until now his head had been full of pink clouds and violins, and he had been satisfied with simply being able to hear her voice, to know that they still loved each other, but now his thoughts were captivated by the physical side of this relationship they could resume once she was back in New York.

„Mac..." He almost growled her name and then lowered his voice. „I want to take you in my arms and hold you so tight... I want to run my fingers through your hair and I can't wait to kiss you... It's been so long..."

„I know... And I missed it so much..." Again Mac whispered, this time expectantly, pure seduction. „What would you do, Billy?"

More pictures flooded Will's head and it took a moment for him to sort through them, but then he started to lay them out to her. „I'm going to go slow, Mac. I want to relearn everything about you, the way you smell, the way you taste, the sounds you make and how your pupils dilate when you are close, your eyes fixed on mine..." Letting his free hand wander down his chest he started to stroke himself through his pants. „I will kiss you so thoroughly that you don't know how to keep standing anymore before I move down to your neck. I remember that spot behind your ear, the one that makes you moan so loudly? I need to know if it still does..." With every word Will's voice got hoarser and he needed to clear his throat before he could go on, fully aware that Mac hadn't said a word since he had started, but that her breathing had accelerated.

„Then I will take off your shirt to pay homage to your magnificent breasts. They look gorgeous in your lace bra and I softly move my thumbs over them before I lean in to kiss them..." Hearing Mac quietly moan through the phone he groaned in return and his jeans were getting uncomfortably tight. „Oh God, you taste so wonderful... Then I'll move further down, placing wet kisses on your stomach and then..."

Will was just about to open the zipper of his pants when Mac interrupted him. „Billy, stop!"

Her voice was raw and she was breathing heavily. Will remained quiet for a moment, but then he gently asked „Mac, Honey? You alright?"

„Fuck, yeah..." With her eyes closed she sighed and placed her hand on her forehead. „It's just... I... I know it's silly, but this will be our... well, the second first time and I don't want it to be like this, on the phone..."

After a moment of silence Will groaned in desperation and moved his hand from his groin, but then he chuckled lightly. „Unfortunately you've got a point there..." Sighing he tried not to think about his hard-on and how much he wanted her. „When will you be home?"

Mac didn't know if he had deliberately placed her home in New York, with him, but her heart did a perfect triple somersault and she didn't intend to correct him. „I've been here for a week now. I'm sure my parents would understand if I'd get on a flight tomorrow..."

Will's face broke into a wide smile and his voice moved down a whole octave
„So... See you tomorrow?"

„See you tomorrow."

That was it - I hope you enjoyed it.

If you want more, you can find an additional (M-rated) chapter on AO3.