Another one I wrote back around 504/505/something like that. Enjoy! For once it's not too fluffy.

The End

It was a cold, windy October night in Chicago, and the effects were beginning to show. People ran from building to building bundled up in warm coats, traffic wasn't near as bad, and leaves were everywhere. Some were happy that it was fall, but some not so much.

Diane finally arrived at the office around 11:30, then parked her car and took the elevator up. She knew that would be one of her last chances to be in the firm calmly, quietly, and freely. Soon enough, her key would be taken and she'd be thrown out. She'd never expected it, but it had happened. Will wasn't giving up this time. And if she came back during the day, who knows what would happen.

Of course it was almost midnight, nobody would be here except for maybe a few security guards or janitors. All she could hear as she walked down the wide hallway was the clicking of her heels and the jingling of her car keys in her hand. When she finally arrived at her office, she made out a dark shape in her chair.

Will.

"Hello", she said after waiting a long time, enjoying the silence that was about to be broken.

"Diane?" He couldn't tell if it's really her in the doorway or if it was just him hallucinating or something. It was late, and he was tired, after all.

"Yes." She gave half a smile at the casual way he said her name, no trace of anger right away, despite all that has happened that day.

His tone quickly faded as he got up, heading for the doorway. "Night." He muttered, not looking at her. He knew she was hurt by the way he was acting but she deserved it, and he shouldn't feel the least bit of sympathy. As he tried to exit, she stepped in front of the door, closed it, and locked it, leaning back onto it and leaving no way out. "I'm leaving." He said. "Open the door, I am in no mood for these games, especially with you!"

His tone startled her, but she didn't back down. "No." She said evenly. "You came into my office, the least you can do is talk to me, while we're alone. You won't be yourself with the whole firm around anyway."

"I won't be myself now, Diane, I swear, I will push you down I do have to, I'm tired and I'm leaving". The last thing I want to do is talk to you." He didn't want to give in. She had betrayed him and he wasn't going to talk to her, much less forgive her, for a long, long time.

"You don't have to like me, will." She said in a small voice. It made her sound weak and frail, like he'd never heard her before. She really wanted to talk, didn't she? "Just sit down."

Finally, he obeyed. "What do you want?" He snarled. "This isn't just some little disagreement that can be fixed with a glass of wine. You betrayed me, my firm, my career, just for some stupid job! We're not letting it slide, you're leaving!"

"Wait... YOUR firm?"

"It's much more mine than it is yours!"

"And how is that?"

"I've put more work into it, diane! Be honest- how many times have you used your own money to help out a client, or, or, promoted someone just because of the work they've put in?! Come to think of it, do you even care about other people's work?!

"How dare you accuse me of not helping you? I put my whole life into this firm, I gave everything. If it wasn't for this, who knows where I'd be?!" She was really fired up now. He couldn't tell her what she had and hadn't done. She'd worked harder than anyone.

"You might be anywhere, but us- we'd be in the same place if you'd never worked here! The only reason stern hired you was for his image, you know that!" It hurt him to say that, so much. He knew it wasn't true, that stern had loved her more than his own family, and that she had contributed to this firm more than anybody had, even him. Tears began to form in her eyes.

"I can't believe you'd say that! Since when did you become so horrible? And what did you do to help the firm?! I practically started it- stern never did anything! I had to handle It all by myself! How do you think that felt, will? I had no friends, I had no social life, because all I ever did was work! I could've been doing something else, but I chose to stay here so I could help build this firm for you!"

"What are you talking about?! You're just like stern! All you care about is yourself and it's not gonna get you anywhere! You're gonna turn out just like he did!"

All these hurtful words hadn't hit will so hard yet, but Diane couldn't take it anymore. She paused, and a tear ran down her cheek. She fell back onto the chair. "You're... Probably right."

Will stopped. He knew he'd crossed the line. No matter what she'd done, he couldn't go on knowing he was having this effect on her. They were partners, and they had been for years. Did he really want it to end now?

He sat in the chair across from her. "Do you remember when he died?"

"And I said," she sniffled, "that I.. I didn't wanna die like that."

"And I said-"

"Then don't." They both ended the sentence, thinking back to that tragic day that they'd bonded so well.

A long pause.

"You won't." He said. "You're not like him."

"I know." Diane sighed. "Do you really want it to be over now?"

"No." Will admitted. "But you left me no choice. I can't go on knowing you got away with something like that. I thought we'd put the past behind us."

"It was for the judgeship-"

"I don't care. You don't do that."

"Will you ever forgive me?"

"We'll see. Probably not for a long time, I mean, how would you feel if I betrayed you like that?"
She sighed. "Do you want to try and forget for a few minutes?"

"Just a few."

She pulled a bottle of scotch and 2 glasses out of the cabinet, poured some into them, and held hers up. "To lockhart/gardner," she said, "and whatever it may be in the future."

Reluctantly, he clinked his glass with hers and took a long sip. This may be the last one of this moments.

"I'm sorry," he said, "for what I said to you. You didn't deserve all that."

"And I'm sorry for the interview. Does this really mean I'm forgiven though, that easily?"

"No." He said, "but we'll talk tomorrow." He put the glass down and walked out of the office, and she couldn't really tell if this was the start of a new day, or just the end.