Alicia approached the bench and quietly said "Mr Blunn, can you tell us what you saw the night of the assault?"
"I saw the deffendent argue with Emily, it was pretty heavy and loud, and then I heard her scream.''
''And what did you do next?"
"I called the police and repported it''
"Thank you Mr Blunn" she turned around and looked at Will "No further questions''
It has been like that for weeks. Ever since Alicia left Lockhart/Gardner to start her own firm with Cary, she and Will became enemies in court. There were icy stares and blunt cut objections just to see the other fall. Court has never been a more dangerous territory. Even judges were aware of the tension.
Will got up before Alicia could sit down and looked past at her, then to Mr Blunn.
"Sir, what distance is your house to Miss Johnson's?"
"I'm not sure.. maybe 10 ft?"
"It's 20 ft, actually. Isn't that a little too far to hear anything?"
"Objection. Questioned and answered" Alicia steped in.
"Sustained"
"Let me refrase that. Do you think that in 20 ft you could hear clearly?"
"Yes, it was a quiet night. And I was paying attention"
"I see. Mr Blunn, are you a Knicks fan?"
"Objection. Relevance?" Alicia, once again
"I have a point your honor, I just need a moment"
"Make your point, Mr Gardner. The witness will answer"
"I am" said Mr Blunn.
"Credit card records say you're a big Knick's fan. You buy a lot of tickets, watches previews online, you're subscribed to weekly NBA magazines..''
"Objection. Relevance!" Alicia got up this time.
"I'm getting there, your Honor''
"Faster, Mr Gardner''
"On May, 14th, the night of the assault, the Knicks played a very important game. Were you watching it?"
"Hm.. Yes''
"In fact, your other neighboor, Mrs Clarke" Will turned around to show the court an old lady sitting in the third roll "claims to hear the sound of your TV, very loudly actually."
"Objection!"
"Overruled, Mrs Florrick"
"You were watching the game at the same moment you claim to have heard my client and Miss Johnson argue. Your TV was blasting the final moments of the game, an important game, and you stopped to listen to your neighboor's gossip?"
"Objection, your honor!" Alicia was already standing and moved closer to the middle of the room "This has nothing to do with Mr Blunn's testimony!"
"This has everything to do with his testimony! It goes to whether he could actually hear the arguement!" Will raised his voice to reach Alicia's.
"This is crazy! Mr Blunn could still hear perfectly what he testified listening to!" Alicia was close to Will now. Too close for her own good. The anger was burning through her face now. Beating Will was so much more important than winning the case.
"Let's let the judge be the one to decided that!"
"Okay okay you two, approach the bench" They did, carefully enough not to brush shoulders with eachother "What ever you two have going on, put a stop to it. This court will not be your playground. Understood?"
''Yes, your honor" They echoed.
"Good. We'll come back tomorrow at 9." He slammed his hammer.
He had his scotch in a mug in one hand and the other in his forehead. Tired. Fighting with Alicia in court was more exausting then with any other lawyer he ever faced.
He could still remember the time she told him she was leaving. It felt like a betrail. She had chosen Cary. More than that, it felt like an end to their story. She had chosen Peter. The man who didn't deserve her, that slept with hockers, stole the election.
He couldn't tell her that. At that moment he could have told her about the votes, and that Peter knew, but that would only break her heart. Will didn't want to be with her like that. He wanted her to choose him because she wanted to. Not because she didn't choose Peter.
Will was angry. He had been ever since that night. He was angry because Alicia took all her clients with her. Big ones like Sweeney, Bishop, Chumhum. The firm was suffering. But more than that, he was angry because she could still mess with his head. Break his thoughts during court just by looking at him.
He held his mug tighter, and breathed heavly before he could break it. He couldn't stay there any longer. He took the last sip, put the mug at his desk, got his jacket and headed to the elevator.
All the way down at Manhattan, Alicia was at her new office, admiring the city from her big windows. She was so proud of what she had acomplished. Cary was a great partner and the firm was going really well. Peter had won the election and she was back to be the good wife.
But was she happy?
She was. At the light of others.
But in her heart she knew she wasn't. Seeing Will at court was more difficult then she'd imagined. It brought back so many feelings.. so many memories. She had to leave Lockhart/Gardner to make distance from him. But that distance was proving to be more hurtful then helpful.
She was tired. She started to pack her things to go home when she heard the elevator doors open. And now steps.
It was Will. He had never been at Florrick/Agos before, but just like him and Diane, Alicia and Cary probably had corner offices. And that's when he found Alicia's.
He threw the door open, and scared Alicia who wasn't looking up until that moment.
"What the hell is your problem?!"
"Me?! What the hell is your problem?! What are you doing here?!"
"I came to tell you to leave me alone!"
"I have left you! I have my own firm now!"
"I can see that! Beautiful offices by the way, it goes well to your line of clients: Sweeney, Bishop.."
"They were my clients!"
"They were the firm's clients! And you betrayed us! Me and Diane! We gave you a chance, we made you partner!"
"Oh I remember that. You made me partner just so you can pay the firm's debt!"
"We made you partner because you deserved it! We believed in you. I believed in you!"
They were getting closer by each sentence. And their voices raised by each sentence.
"You think it was easy to leave?"
"YES. You didn't think about anyone else but yourself!"
"You're wrong! I did think of someone!"
"WHO?"
"YOU! I THOUGHT OF YOU! I NEEDED DISTANCE FROM YOU!"
''WHY?''
''BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!''
Alicia was almost tearing up with anger. Will's eyes were fixed on hers. He didn't even think. He grabbed her neck and kissed her. She kissedback imediately, passionately, putting her hands on his back. He held her close to him, moving his hands through the side of her body. She moaned, softly.
That kiss was more than just love, it was filled with hurt.
They started walking together towards her desk. Will pressed her back against it and lifted her legs, bringing them to his hips. He kissed her lips, her chin, her jaw, then her neck, pressing his body onto hers. Alicia was lying on her desk, bringing him with her, when they heard a noise.
It was the elevator again. Fast, they got up and started tiding up. Alicia fixed her very wrinkled clothes, Will fixed his tie and jacket. Five seconds later, they see Cary passing through the hallway. He sees them, and comes into Alicia's office.
''Hey, it's late. What are you doing here?''
''I forgot some notes and I have to go through them for tomorrow'' Alicia lied.
''I forgot mine too'' He looked at Will.
''I was just leaving'' He looked at Alicia. ''Goodnight'' and he left the office.
''Is everything ok?'' Cary asked her, once Will was gone.
''Yeah. It's fine''
But it wasn't fine. Alicia thought about that kiss until she fell asleep that night. And as soon as she woke up.
At court, she was already sitting when Will got in. She continued looking at her papers, when Will approached her.
''Alicia, I..''
''All rise for Honorable Judge Blaine'' said the guard next to the bench.
They all rose and waited for the judge to be sitted. Alicia could feel Will's eyer on her.
She didn't know how to act around him anymore. It's been weeks of hating each other, of not thinking about her feelings. Since leaving Lockhart/Gardner, she locked Will in a box, hidden in the back of her head, and focused only on work. Her firm was doing really good, Cary and her made great partners and great bosses. Peter was helping with the kids, now that she was working longer hours and was actually being a good husband. His work as Governor was bringing great publicity to her new firm - after all, she was the wife who got cheated on with hookers. She was already pretty famous. And now with a hot shot lawyer firm in Chicago, business couldn't be better. But everything suddently felt different ever since last night, after that kiss. It's funny how a single kiss, a moment of less than 10 seconds, can open up so many feelings. That was it for them.
''Your honor, we call Mrs Clarke to the stand'' softly said Alicia. After she had taken the stand, she began ''Mrs Clarke, how old are you?''
''I'm 87, dear''
''And I understand that you have some health problems?''
''Well yes. At my age it's hard not to, right?'' she worked a smile and looked at Judge Blaine.
''I see. We did found out that you take a medicine called Prolixipan for your arthritis''
''Objection. Relevance?'' Will called it.
''It goes to whether Mrs Clarke's statement is true'' Alicia answered.
''Overruled''
''Yes, I do take those, twice a day''
''After reading the drug description for Prolixipan, we found out that it can cause halucinations''
''Objection'' Will tried, once more.
''Overruled''
''And we know that you take more pills a day for your heart condition, blood pressure and back pain. Now mixing all those pills can cause more side effects. Do you still think you heard my client's TV that night?''
''Yes! I'm not crazy. I know what I heard''
''No further questions, your honor''
''Mr Gardner?'' asked the judge.
''I'm good, your honor''
''Alright, I think I have enough to rule on this one. I ask you all to come back tomorrow at 3 and I'll share my ruling''
''Will, can I talk to you for a minute?'' Diane knocked on Will's door, where he was sat pensive. ''How's the Krane case? Do you think you'll win?''
''It could go either way. Judge Blaine liked Emily, but he's not easy to convince. Why are you asking?''
''I hear Alicia is the opposing counsel''
''And?''
''And I know how you get around her''
''Diane, there's nothing going on between us. It ended a long time ago''
''Didn't exactly seem like over in your car''
''That was a long time ago. I've moved on''
''Good. You deserve to be happy Will''
Diane knew. She didn't bring up the kiss until right now, because she knew better than to stay away from the two. The truth was that Will hadn't moved on since that day in the car. He had faith that they'd talk and finally work things out. But after he found out Alicia was leaving, hate just filled his head and masked the love that was in his heart. So what about last night? Were they at that moment again? Will didn't know. He just knew that Alicia was invading his head again.
''Speaking of happy.. how's wedding planning? Should I buy hiking boots for your cerimony in the woods?'' Diane laughed ''What about ear plugs? I hear Kurt's gonna shoot guns intead of throwing rice''
''Careful now dear, your jealous is showing''
''You didn't wait for me. I was this close to making my move on you''
AN: I hope you liked this chapter! Let me know how you think it's gonna turn out in the next one! Special thanks to: Talita and Tays for the support! 3