A/N
So I had some doubts about this chapter. This is the conversation between Will and Diane. I couldn't decide if this type of open, trusting conversation would actually occur between Will and Diane, or whether it would be better to have Kalinda say those things to Will over tequila at a bar. But then I decided that Diane's and Will's relationship has matured very much during the show, so this could hypothetically take place. On another note, I want to have Kalinda explain why she didn't warn Will (Kalinda and Cary shippers don't miss this) and whether she would have actually left too. So enough rambling. Please as always read and review.

Will has still fuming over Alicia's betrayal, when he entered Diane's office a few hours later. She had barely taken off her coat and seemed suprised that Will would practically prowl like that into her office.
"Alicia, Cary, Robyn and the others four year associates are starting their own firm." he said without preamble.
Diane was stunned. She hadn't been so shocked since her mentor Stern had pulled a similar stunt a few years back.
"Is it irrevocable? Is there something we can do to change their minds?"
"No I don't think so. Alicia didn't gave me the impression she was fishing for a bargain. She just announced it to me"
The bitterness in Will's voice gave Diane pause. The relationship between Alicia and her partner was a touchy subject, one she often preferred to ignore. She gave a good look at Will, who was puring himself some scotch and decided not to delve any deeper for the time being.
"Do we know which clients are they taking?"
"No, Alicia will send me an email later. My guess is we can kiss Colin Sweeney goodbye."
Diane pondered that in silence. Will was right. Sweeney would probably go and who knows who else. Alicia, besides being a very good lawyer, was the Governor's wife. She was a moving advertisment. Diane felt bitter. She knew Alicia didn't do it on purpose and didn't take advantage of her name,but still it stang.

"We cannot catch a breath, can we? We are barely back on our feet and this happens."

"Diane, I have been thinking and I do not want this to affect your plans for Supreme Court Justice. I will figure this out. You have been waiting for this your whole life"

Diane was silent. The Chief Justice's words were playing through her mind. "Your partner's a scoundrel to be spurned, not embraced." She couldn't turn her back on Will, not when he looked so beaten. She couldn't do him in to become a judge. She wasn't her father. And frankly she was no saint either. None of them were.
"Will I am not going anywhere. I have dedicated myself to this firm and I am not letting it collapse without a fight."
Will was silent for a few moments. He looked outside her window,not really seeing the view. Then he turned around slowly, with water in his eyes.
"I need to know that you are doing this, because you want to, because you love this firm, not out of loyalty to me."
"I want to stay and fight. I feel betrayed and I want to strike that enough for you?"

Will looked at her and nodded.

He really needed Diane, or the firm wouldn't stand a chance. Two partners leaving was too big a blow. And yet he couldn't bring himself to hide anything from couldn't stay silent or keep his thoughts to himself. Not when she was giving up her biggest dream. So he said the one thing that had been eating at him all day.

"What if this situation is all my fault? What if Alicia is leaving, because I couldn't,as you so eloquently put it, keep my pants zipped?" he wondered. "What if I ruined my firm once again because I had to go after the wrong woman?"

"Did she say something?" Diane asked

"Just that she cares for me but it is complicated."

Diane paused for a moment and pondered her next words carefully. She remembered how betrayed she had felt when Stern left and their relationship was nothing like Will's with Alicia. Maybe it was time to stop avoiding the elephant in the room.

"Look Will when I met you I thought you were a brilliant lawyer, a little too cocky perhaps with a big ego and too much cynism. I have to admit I didn't really like you. But then Alicia gets hired and I see a different man walking into my office. More sensitive, more bruised, more human. I know I was the one who told it was wrong and stupid to sleep with the State Attorney's wife. But Will I do understand that if you could change the way you felt about her you would have. I can imagine it isn't easy to love someone and never really have her. That is why I didn't say anything about what I saw in the car. Don't blame yourself for her decision. You simply loved her. That is no crime."

"I did love her very much but I am done. I cannot sacrifice anything more for her sake. It is time for me to get back on my feet and fight."

"With me by your side", Diane added and they raised their glasses.

A/N Ok this was wayyyyyy longer than I had anticipated. And yes I know that Diane might seem a tad AU towards the end. I considered ending it a bit sooner, but this speech is something I would really like to see Diane giving Will and it is my fanfiction so you know I included it.

My very special thanks to guategal, Celia16, Lu250, guest (whoever you are) and GracePastry for reviewing. You guys are the reason this chapter goes up tonight.