Title: Chance
Author: MarySunshine
Summary: after the fight was over with Bond, Diane realised...
Rating: K+
Warnings: -
Fandom: The Good Wife
Spoilers/Timeline: post Great Firewall (S2E16)
Disclaimer: those who you know are owned by the writers of TGW, the others are mine

Author's Note: I'm still writing my other multi-chap, but Silver Bullet kind of left us hanging, and I couldn't take it any more, so I started to write this one as well. Tell me if if you like it, and if I should continue posting this here, or not.

Chapter One

Almost all offices were dark and silent at the firm that just got rid of one of its names. The third name has already been removed from the wall, although only a few hours have passed since the partner's meeting, and the leaving of the third name partner. There wasn't a single person around, except for the blonde woman, who was still at her desk, at this late hour. There was a bottle of scotch behind her on the cabinet with two empty glasses. But the owner of the other glass was nowhere to be seen, she was completely alone.

This was the day she'd been dreading of but waiting for at the same time. It's been too long since she'd last felt this piece and quiet. She couldn't even recall the last time she was so satisfied. And she knew it would only last that night, because tomorrow everything will speed up again, they'll start facing problems again, and inevitable fights will surely follow. That was the reason she stayed in the office that night, she wanted to enjoy this rare state, and the few glasses of scotch they'd consumed with her - now only – partner helped her keep up her good mood.

She wasn't working, she was just sitting there, thinking about the past few months, from Bond's arrival until his fall. These may have been the hardest months of her life ever since she'd become a name partner, and she's had no one on her side. She hated being on bad terms with Will, and they've had too much of that recently. They've always had a close relationship and this was the first time that their alliance almost fell apart. They've never been this close to breaking up. She knew it just wouldn't have been the same without him. Their firm relies on his fresh ideas and daring nature just as much as on her diplomatic skills and courtroom experience. They just complement each other professionally, and on another level, he is a fun person to hang out with. They have managed to keep up this kind of close friendship between them from the beginning, flirting with each other, without ever crossing the line, well almost.

There was this one time, after a celebration, when he got drunk, because he'd previously broken up with his actual underage girlfriend. She had no choice but to accompany him home, moreover she had to help him right to his door. He kissed her goodbye, and she was caught off-guard with that move, but she was the more sober one, and of course she rejected him. They never talked about this afterwards, she wasn't even sure he remembered. He is a handsome man, and his age wouldn't be that much of a problem either, and she loves spending time with him, but the firm has always needed them to stay friends, so she never wanted more, and considering Will's taste in women, she's always been sure that he felt the same way. This was kind of an unvoiced agreement between them, which was never meant to be broken.

He's always been the one walking in and out of relationships, still trying to find his place, while she wasn't exactly looking any more. Throughout the past twenty years she's convinced herself that she was better off alone, and she rarely had the time to miss being in a relationship. Her firm and her career have always been the most important things, the essence that has kept her alive, and she rarely needed more. But on that night, when for a short while everything seemed all right on the professional level, she found herself thinking of someone she was missing.

It's been a week since she turned down his proposal, and he left for good, leaving her behind, almost without goodbye. He didn't exactly explain why he had to leave, and he didn't bother to understand why she couldn't go with him then. He kind of ruined their fragile relationship with the proposal, using words like now or never. She still couldn't exactly see why he had to end everything between them that way. She wasn't sure that was what he wanted, and it wasn't what she wanted either. She loved having him around, and yes, she missed him while he'd been away here and there without bothering to call her. He just acted like men usually do, but it still surprised her, since she'd expected him to be different.

But it didn't change the fact that she missed him, on that night maybe more than ever. She supposed he probably wouldn't care if he knew what happened that day, that she won the fight she'd told him about. If only he'd waited one more week. Of course she wouldn't have run away with him a week later either, but at least then they could have compromised. She had one less thing to worry about now, and could be more open to his suggestions of any kind. If only she knew why he couldn't wait, why was he so eager to leave, what was he expecting from that trip to a place she'd never thought he'd want to go. She had so many questions, he'd left so many behind, and now that she was freed from her dreads and worries about the firm, she kind of felt ready to ask these questions from him, if it wasn't already too late.

Maybe it was the scotch, maybe the high she felt after winning a huge battle, but she didn't think any more, just reached for her phone and called him, in the hope that he'd answer.