A/N: I don't really know what to tell you about this chapter, except for fasten your seat belts...

Despite the rain that was still pouring down as if someone up there had forgotten to turn off a garden sprinkler that had gone into overdrive, Alicia felt better than she had in a long time as she stepped into her office. She had even caught herself humming along with a pop song on her car radio when she drove here. Glancing into Diane's office, she saw her partner hadn't come in yet and decided to go through the society blogs while she waited. Time to figure out who had been so eager to impeach her. She could of course have let it slide now that she had decided she would step down as SA, but somehow it felt like this was about more than just politics. It felt personal, and that was why she needed to know.

She browsed through the blogs for the next thirty minutes without finding anything, just a lot of pictures of rich people dancing, eating and drinking. Ashley was in several of them, but Alicia didn't really think the Rhodes girl had anything to do with the leak or the picture. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't think of a single shred of motive for Ashley to do such a thing. So she scrolled through the pictures that showed Ashley without looking very closely, even though she really wanted to look, because the girl was with John in most of the pictures. But she couldn't let his pretty face distract her now — especially since she would see him again in just a few hours… She was just about to give up on the pictures and call Davenport to threaten him with a lawsuit if he didn't give up his source, when someone in the background of one of the photos caught her eye. The woman had been photographed in silhouette, her face turned away from the camera, and partly blocked from view by the dancing couple in the foreground. But there was something very familiar about her.

No. It couldn't be. She hadn't even been there… Had she? Sitting up straight, her eyes widening, Alicia remembered something Peter had said Sunday night when she'd asked him about the picture in the paper.

I was at the bar with… someone.

She saw herself standing in the ballroom again, trying to be polite about getting away from the older couple with the grandkids and the labradoodle, and wondering what was taking Peter so long. Now she thought she knew. Alicia leaned into her computer screen and squinted, trying to get a better look at the woman who was sitting at the bar with Peter. But it had been too dark. She read the caption underneath the picture, but it only mentioned the names of the couple in the foreground.

She had two options now, Alicia figured. She could try and find a better picture, or she could just call Peter and ask him. Trying to bite back her growing sense of anger, she reached for her phone.

"It's me," she said as soon as he answered. "Do you have a minute? I want to ask you a question."

"I don't have a lot of time, but go ahead." He sounded like he was walking, and in a hurry.

"Who were you at the bar with, Friday night?" Alicia got up and started pacing, trying to expel the restless energy she felt while she waited for his answer.

"Why do you want to know?"

He was evading like always, but somehow this time it only served to convince Alicia she was right. "It was Ramona, wasn't it?"

"Alicia…"

"Was it her or not? It's a yes-or-no question, Peter. Just answer it."

He hesitated, then sighed. "Yes. But…"

"What was she even doing there?"

"She, uh, she came to talk to me. I didn't even know she'd bought a ticket. She…"

"What did you talk about?" As Alicia asked the question, things that had happened over the past week started coming back to her. Peter here in this office, angry about Good Morning Chicago. In his own office, threatening to blackmail her. At the gala, unreasonably angry over his wife dancing with another man. In the car, grabbing her arm in such an uncharacteristical move… Then the complete about-face he'd done about the divorce, seemingly overnight. Because Ramona had set him an ultimatum. And why had she done that? "You didn't know yet… She came to tell you she was pregnant. Didn't she?" she said, answering her own question.

Peter muttered a curse. "Yes. Look, Alicia, can we talk about this later? I'm about to go into…"

"No, Peter, we are going to talk about this now. I think you owe me that much. Did Ramona read your little blackmail file about me?" She must have, right? How else would she have known all those things about Will and Alicia?

"Alicia." Peter sighed again. "I swear, I didn't know she'd seen it. I destroyed it right after she told me she had read it. I didn't think she'd already…"

Ignoring his attempts to cover his own ass, Alicia pushed right through. "And the picture? She took that too, didn't she?"

"Yes. I'm sorry, Alicia…"

"Why?"

"Why am I sorry?"

Alicia rolled her eyes. "No, why did she do it? Why did she leak?"

But she already knew, of course. Jealousy, pure and simple. Alicia had taken Ramona's prize, two decades ago. She'd married the man Ramona loved, the man she had been pregnant with. That prize of a man who she was pregnant with again now but who still refused to divorce his wife. Who wouldn't want to get back at someone for that? Alicia almost felt sorry for Ramona. Almost.

"Look, I really don't have time for this now. I have an important meeting. I'll come by after and we can talk about this all you want," Peter said.

"No, Peter. Don't bother. I think I'm done talking to you. Just one more thing." She paused deliberately, giving her next words more weight. "Make sure your girlfriend stops leaking from now on, or I'll do a little leaking of my own. Got it?"

There was an audible swallow on his end. "W-what are you talking about?"

Alicia let out a brief chuckle. "You used to be my husband. She used to be my friend. That means I have a lot of personal information on both of you. Goodbye, Peter." She hung up, knowing very well she left him worrying about every misstep he had made over the past twenty years and wondering which ones she would leak — and how they would affect his precious career. Leaning back in her desk chair, she smiled widely.

"You look happy this morning." Diane stuck her head around Alicia's door.

Alicia nodded slowly. "You know what? I believe I'm finally getting there."

"Good." Diane smiled. "Listen, not to dampen your mood, but we still need to negotiate your exit package."

Alicia took a deep breath. "About that exit package… Is Cary here yet? I need to talk to both of you."

§§§

Around ten thirty that morning, John was beginning to regret his decision to ride the bike back to Chicago. He'd made good time on the first part of the trip, because there had been only light rain. But by the time he'd turned onto the I-65, that had changed. Traffic had begun to slow down as the rain grew heavier, but he still had been able to keep going at a decent speed, because being on a bike meant that he was able to weave his way through gaps between the cars and trucks that crept along the road. He'd lost some time, but he knew he could still make it ahead of schedule if he didn't stop for coffee. And he'd happily trade the coffee for the chance to surprise Alicia by taking her to lunch instead of dinner.

But about twenty minutes ago, the weather had gotten even worse, and visibility had dropped to almost zero. The tarmac had trouble handling all the water and the road had gone slippery. It still wasn't anything he couldn't handle, but after only three hours of sleep he could think of better ways to travel. Well, at least he wasn't stuck at the airport, biting back his frustration over his flight being delayed due to weather conditions, so that was something, he supposed. But he was really beginning to crave that coffee now...

A mile or so later he saw the sign of a roadside restaurant. It was shaped like a giant cup of coffee, and John felt his resolve weaken. He could almost smell the freshly ground beans the sign advertised... But at this speed, he could be in Chicago in half an hour. They had coffee there too.

Just when he decided to ignore the restaurant, the rain intensified even more. Traffic ahead of him seemed to come to a complete standstill. John slowed down too, trying to see if there was a way to make it through the traffic jam. But it was no use. He could barely make out the taillights of the car in front of him due to the water streaming down his helmet and turning everything into a blurry mess.

"Ugh... Whatever!" He muttered. Dinner it was, then. He might as well go get that coffee and wait for the weather to improve.

John signaled a right turn - and swerved when the horn of the truck behind him started honking angrily. When the back of his bike started sliding, he started cursing while he struggled to keep it upright.

Suddenly, both coffee and Alicia were the furthest things from his mind.

§§§

"Alicia. Take a seat. I'll just be a moment." Diane gestured towards a chair while tapping on her keyboard with the other hand.

"Where's Cary?" Alicia asked, as she sat down and glanced at her watch. They'd agreed to meet at eleven, because Cary had been in a meeting with an out-of-town client that morning. He was usually very punctual.

"Hi, Alicia!" Cary's voice said, from the teleconference system on Diane's desk.

"Oh! Hi! Where are you?"

"Still stuck on the I-65, just outside town. I hate rain. And traffic jams." He sighed.

"So, what did you want to talk to us about?" Diane asked, turning away from her computer to face Alicia. She was squinting a little behind her glasses, as if she expected bad news.

Alicia took a deep breath. "Well, here's the thing… I've done a lot of thinking lately. And I'm no longer sure if I really want to take the SA's office. So I was hoping I could come back. Here. As a partner." Silence followed her words, both in the office and on the teleconference system. Diane just sat there, looking at her like she was seeing water burn. "If—if you'll have me, that is, of course…"

"That's great news!" Cary said. "We'll have to open a bottle of champaign when I get back! Which is hopefully soon. Traffic is moving again. A little, that is…"

Alicia could practically hear his eye roll at that last part, but it was the first part that made her heart jump. Although she did of course realize that she'd won only half the battle. "Diane?"

"Yes. Yes, of course you can come back. We'd love to have you…" The older woman raised her eyebrows. "I was just wondering where this is suddenly coming from. Want to share?"

Alicia opened her mouth, ready to tell her partners about how the recent media attention had made her see that being SA wasn't really what she wanted, when Cary's voice sounded again.

"Oh, shit. That's just... Nasty. Aw, that poor bastard…" he muttered.

Alicia and Diane exchanged puzzled looks. "Cary?" Diane asked, cautiously. "What's going on?"

"Big accident up ahead. I think a truck hit a motorcycle or something—well, it looks like it used to be a motorcycle, anyway. I can't really tell for sure…"

Cary said more, but Alicia was suddenly feeling like the bottom had dropped out of her stomach at the mention of a motorbike. Diane's office started spinning around her as she felt the blood drain from her face. It's not him, she told herself. It can't be. There must be hundreds of bikers on the Interstate this morning. The room stopped spinning and her stomach settled slightly. Then she glanced at the window and remembered the rain. How many bikers rode their bikes in the pouring rain, she wondered…

"Alicia?" Diane's voice seemed to come from a hundred miles away. "Alicia. What's wrong?"

"I…" Alicia stood up, on legs that felt like they were made out of wood. "I need to call him," she managed to choke out.

"What? Who? Alicia!" She heard Diane call out after her as she left the office and began the journey to her own, while she constantly repeated her new mantra, it's not him, in her head.

Alicia kept repeating that mantra over and over again while she grabbed her phone and forced her numb fingers to dial John's number. She repeated it twice more as she lifted the phone to her ear, wondering how she had never noticed how heavy the device was. And she repeated her mantra all the way through the message of the robot voice telling her that this cell phone user was currently out of reach, and to try calling again later.

It wasn't him.

Was it?