Aaliyah Carter read the report that the John Doe case was solved. It turned out an inmate named Dexter Roja confessed the murder, the victim's name was Nick Savarese an English man who was smuggling drugs from Canada, Lemond Bishop had him kill. The connection to Alicia Florrick? Well, Savarese was her client for while, only his legal business of course.

"What's this bullshit, Grace?" Aaliyah didn't mind using that kind of language with her boss. She showed Grace the article in the tablet.

"Excuse me?"

"An inmate magically and conveniently confessed the murder? Leaving your mom off the hook."

"You really don't think my mom had anything to do with the murder?" Grace said.

"But she knows more, right?" Aaliyah replied. "And Roja didn't confessed to clear his conscience, he must gotten something in return."

Grace stood up from her desk. "What are you accusing me of?"

"Did you make a deal with Roja?"

"I didn't make a deal with him."

"I think it's obvious someone did."

"It doesn't matter" Grace said. "The case is closed. That's…

The phone rang interrupting their argument. Grace picked it up. "Yes? Okay, put him through…yes...Jesus Christ...when?...we are on it."

"What happened?"

"A cop shot and killed a teenage boy."

Aaliyah had been working for the State's Attorney office for 2 years when her supervisor told her she had to train Grace Florrick and that they would share an office for a while. She belligerently accepted. She thought she had more important work to do, but if someone was going to teach the rookie, might as well be her.

"Nice to meet you, Aaliyah. I'm Grace Florrick." The young lawyer said with a big smile as she shook her coworker's hand. Aaliyah thought Grace was like the other fresh out of law school lawyers; eager to prove themselves.

Aaliyah gave Grace the tour around the different offices, explained how the cases are designated, how to copy a file physically and digitally, how to get her passwords and email set up, where the meetings took place, who to call to get her id, the different phone extensions and finally their break room. Grace wrote it all down on a notebook as she followed Aaliyah.

"Any questions so far?"

"I think I'm good." Grace told her, the smile still in her face.

"Can I ask you something? Why do you want to work here?"

"Because I want to give back to the city of Chicago."

"For real?" Aaliyah raised and eyebrow.

"Of course." Grace nodded. "Have you seen To Kill a Mockingbird? I mean, they made me read the book first in middle school but when I saw the movie when I was older, it really inspired me."

"What do you mean? Atticus Finch is the hero in the movie, the prosecution and the jury are the bad guys."

"Exactly!" Grace answered. "We need good guys on this side of the law. Because, sadly, the movie is still relevant."

Aaliyah stared at Grace, she seemed to be completely serious. "Alright." She shrugged.

"Why do you work here?" this time Grace asked.

"Because I tried working in a law firm and I couldn't get used to that air of arrogance, so you know, I'm here for the air of bureaucracy."

Grace chuckled. "I guess working here is an acquired taste."

"Yeah it is." Aaliyah said. "I imagine this office tour was unnecessary, right? You already been here a million times. Someone told me you used to do your homework at the State's Attorney office."

"It was a loooong time ago." Grace said. "Dad used to give me one dollar to get a snack from the vending machine...Which by the way, I think it's the same one." She pointed at the vending machine in the corner of the break room. "I wonder if the trick of pushing A1, unplugging it and plugging it back still works. You get two candy bars for the price of one, that's why the less popular candy is in A1."

"I never seen anyone do that, so maybe they fixed it."

"Yeah, probably."

"How is it going with the Nepobaby?" A lawyer asked Aaliyah in the break room. She had been training Grace for a month.

"Nepobaby?" Aaliyah was making a cup of coffee. "I don't think that term applies here. Her dad doesn't work here."

"She can still drop his name, you didn't think she drop his name in the job interview?"

"You mean the job interview where she had to give her full name?" Aaliyah rolled her eyes.

"You know what I mean." He insisted.

"But what good does make to bring up your dad if he's a felon?" Another lawyer chimed in from the microwave area. "Like Blagojevich kids aren't going around saying: Do you know who my daddy is?"

"Trump kids do. And people in Chicago still like Florrick." The other lawyer said. "My dad still think he was doing a good job and who cares if he stole."

"Maybe she's a mole. You know how Peter Florrick wanted his wife to be the State's Attorney? It was to cover up his crimes. So maybe Grace is here to report to her dad."

"I have work to do." Aaliyah didn't care for this conversation and headed for the door, but she stopped at the vending machine.

"Hey, do me a favor." She told her coworker. "When I tell you, unplugged the machine, okay?"

She put in $2 bill, pushed A1. "Now...and plug it back." The machine gave her 2 chocolate bars instead of one.

"How did you know that would work?"

"I didn't." She said. "Do you want one?"

"No, nobody likes Almond Joys."

As they share the office, Aaliyah and Grace got to know each other, it was a slow bonding process. Grace found out Aaliyah was engaged, that her parents were retired teachers and that Aaliyah liked her coffee black and 2 packs of sugar. Aaliyah learned that Grace didn't drink coffee nor alcohol.

"You don't curse, do you?" Aaliyah asked her. "I don't think I have ever heard you say 'shit' or a proper 'motherfucker'."

"No, I don't like to curse." Grace told her.

"My grandma would love to meet you."

"And I would love to meet your grandma."

"Uh, you mean it, don't you?"

"Why would I said it if I don't mean it?" Grace said. "I'm sure your grandma is very sweet."

"She is. Most grandmas are."

"Yeah, most grandmas." Grace looked away and sighed. Aaliyah also noticed Grace, despite being very friendly with everyone, never really shared anything about her personal life. Aaliyah thought it wasn't her business, as long as Grace was a competent lawyer.

Then, Peter Florrick was arrested.

"So this is where they're hiding you." Aaliyah walked up the cubicle where Grace was working. She leaned against the desk "They put you with the clerks."

"Yeah, I'm going to be part of the administrative services until the issue with my dad is resolved. They don't want me anywhere near criminal bureau."

"Conflict of interest, make sense."

"Honestly, it's better for me too." Grace said. "Makes the situation less awkward. And dad posted bail today, he's probably in his apartment by now."

"Are you going to talk to him?"

"I dunno…" At that moment, both Grace's cellphone and phone extension started to ring.

"Oh, that's funny." Aaliyah said. "Do you want me to get this one?"

"No...something is wrong."

Aaliyah's cellphone started getting notifications too. The news broke, Peter Florrick had been murdered. Aaliyah will always remember how Grace let out a howl of anguish when heard the news.

It was very odd for Aaliyah to see Grace on the news, there was a morbid attention to the murder, she wouldn't blame if Grace took extra time to come back to work, but she didn't, Grace was back.

"Our supervisor told her she could take more time, she didn't want to." Aaliyah was telling her fiance Lawrence about work. "It could be because of the grief."

"You should talk to her, she's your friend."

"We're not friends, we're coworkers."

"Well, okay then, she's your work friend." the fiance replied. "Are you going to invite her to our wedding?"

"I...I don't know."

"You should invite her, I bet she..." he stopped himself from finishing the sentence. "Shit, I had a kinda of asshole thought."

"What was it?" The lawyer was curious.

"I thought she'll probably get us the most expensive item in our wedding registration because her dad left her money."

"You're right. Lawrence, that's a asshole thing to say."

Aaliyah did invite her to wedding and Grace did get the most expensive item in the wedding registration: a Dyson air purifier. Aaliyah's grandma met Grace in the wedding and she indeed like her.

Eventually, Grace was reincorporated to the her lawyer duties, first in the civil bureau and then she was back at criminal where she reunited with Aaliyah.

"Wanna be my second chair?" Aaliyah asked Grace during a meeting.

"Yes!"

The women became a fearsome duo in court, they were winning cases, getting convictions deals and even when they didn't win, the State's Attorney recognized their efforts keeping trial shorts. Of course, working in that red tape environment they had to learn to move on. 'Take the win, take the loss and move on'.

At 30 something years old, Aaliyah decided to put a break in her career and have a baby. Of course, Grace send her a gift basket to her home when she had her baby boy: Herbert.

"Not too late to make Grace the godmother." Her husband told her as he look through the gifts in the basket."

"I'll stick with my sister." Aaliyah told him.

The week before her return to work, Aaliyah got some weird texts from another coworkers about Grace, asking if she knew anything about Grace possibly running for office. So when Grace showed up at her apartment, Aaliyah knew something was up.

"I don't think you're here to welcoming back to work." Aaliyah crossed her arms.

"Okay, I was going to ask you to see the baby first, but you want to cut to the chase." Grace said. "Yeah, I'm not going back to work. I'm going to run for office, I'll announce in..." she looked at the time. "In about an hour."

"You're fucking unbelievable, Grace!" Aaliyah exclaimed. "You want to be my boss."

"You shouldn't look at it that way." Grace wanted to calm her down. "It's about serving together..."

"No, no, no. Don't give me that civil servant crap now. You just want to be at the top, you want to..."

"I don't see you throwing your hat in the ring."

"I don't want to."

"But I do!" Grace said with passion. "I do want this job."

"Was that always your plan? Was that your secret intention all along?"

"Intentions don't mean anything, actions are what matter, what is tangible, Aaliyah. I've been with you in the trenches for years. I was there working as hard as you."

"And do you want a medal?"

"No, I want you."

"What do you mean?" Aaliyah raised her eyebrow.

"When I win..."

"If you win."

"Okay, if I win I want someone I can trust by my side. So tell me what you want, besides a rise." Grace offered her. "And I'll give it to you. Think it over."

Aaliyah had all the campaign to think it over, in the meantime they were plenty of co workers and acquaintances who asked Aaliyah about the bright new candidate.

"Does she really volunteer in an orphanage?"

"Is it true she doesn't have any tattoos because she donates blood every 6 months?"

"I heard she's a 'virgin' because she only does 'soaking'?"

On election day Aaliyah had to make a decision, she consulted it with her husband. They were watching the election results on the 11 pm newscast.

"Looks like you're going to be Grace's right hand."

"But what does that mean, Lawrence?" She looked at her husband. "I do what she tells me to do now? I go to the top of the hierarchy because I'm her friend?"

"Don't over think this. She's giving you an opportunity not because you're her favorite, because she knows you're a fantastic lawyer. Take the win."

The next day, Aaliyah took her baby to meet Grace at her campaign headquarters. Grace was happy to held Herbie for the first time. They were welcome in the private office.

"He's so cute."

"Yes, he is." Aaliyah looked outside the office where the collaborators and volunteers were still working hard. "A lot off people follow you. They think you're the real deal."

"And what do you think?"

"Well, you said actions matter more than intentions, right? So I'll take your word, make me the head of the special prosecution bureau. Any big trial goes to me and I pick my team."

"You got it." Grace nodded.

"And I'm not going to get you coffee or tea."

"I won't ask you to get me coffee or tea unless you're getting one for yourself."

2 years later, the Special Prosecution Bureau was handling the case of officer Aukerman shooting and killing 13 year old Kendrick Campbell.

As a black woman, Aaliyah was familiar with the civil unrest around the city, she lived through it in her teenager years, people protesting, cops beating up protesters, all hell could break lose. They had to be ready, starting with the conference.

"My office is charging officer Paul Aukerman with second degree murder." Grace said to the room full reporters. Aaliyah was standing behind her. "Assistant State's Attorney Aaliyah Carter will be the lead prosecutor. Officer Aukerman remains in custody."

"Ma'am? What about the protesters?" A reporter quickly asked the question while rising their hand. "Are you not pressing charges?"

"The police arrested 43 people last night for trespassing and damage of public and private property, my office has dismissed these chargers." Grace stated. "This office won't wast time and resources in prosecuting the citizens of Chicago and their right to protest."

Aaliyah felt the mood of the room change. The police brutality wasn't going to be the big news, no, it was going to be all about the property and the dollars lost and whether Grace was too liberal, too left, too soft. After the press conference Lieutenant Prizky came for Grace on the hallways of city hall.

"YOU FUCKING BITCH!" The cop yelled and pointed at Grace. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS!"

Grace step back, she was startled by the old man coming at her, Aaliyah instantly put herself in front of her. Other cops rushed to hold back the white hair lieutenant.

"MY BOYS ARE OUT THERE PUTTING THEIR LIVES ON THE LINE AND YOU'RE LETTING THOSE FUCKING ANIMALS WALK?!" Prizky face was read, a big vein on his forehead. "BUT WE'LL GET EVEN!"

Grace found inner strength to yell back at Prizky. "THE CITY OF CHICAGO DOESN'T SEEK VENGEANCE AGAINST ITS CITIZENS, THE CITY OF CHICAGO GIVES THEM JUSTICE!"

After the scrimmage broke and in the security of her office, Grace had to sit down and took deep breaths.

"I thought he was going to hit me."

"Probably. Crazy bastard. " Aaliyah was also upset by the incident, she walked around the office and shook it off. "Hey."

"What?"

"The city of Chicago gives them justice?"

"I have no idea where that came from. I wasn't even sure it made sense." Grace laughed it off.

The same day they were reports about the incident in the press. 'The legend of Grace Florrick grew' Aaliyah thought when she read it on the news site.

"You look good on the news conference." Her husband interrupted her thoughts.

"Thanks?"

"It's important to look good on TV if you want to get far."

"Get where?"

The political chaos continued. The governor sent troops so they can arrested protesters and process them in a different county, civil rights association filed law suit. In Grace's office there was talk of approval polls between young people, old people, business owners. Even Grace's pastor got involved in the public forum. Aaliyah stayed focus on the trial, she was doing her part. The jury selection, the arguments, the witness.

"I heard you got death threats." Grace walked into Aaliyah's office. "Are you okay?"

"They're cowards. They threw a rock at my house and ran away."

"I'm sorry. Is Herbie okay?"

"My son is completely unaware of any of this. All he knows is that mommy works long hours. But it's worth it."

"Of course it is." Grace crossed her arms and rested against the desk. "I want to go back to the Savarese case."

"Now?" Aaliyah looked at her boss. "Why? It's been months." Aaliyah put the papers down and crossed her arms, mimicking her boss. "Anything you want off your chest?"

"The truth is: I knew about Roja's confession beforehand. A friend of my mother set it up, they told me about it. And as far as I can tell, it's true that Bishop had Savarese killed."

"A friend of your mother?" Aaliyah raised an eyebrow. Grace nodded. "Okay, but what did Roja get out of this?"

"He asked for something for his family."

"And this mysterious friend, granted his wish."

"Pretty much."

"And you were okay with this?"

"What was I suppose to do? It was a good deal and it solved the case." Grace said. "That's why I'm here, Aaliyah, I heard through the grapevine that Aukerman is breaking down, he wants a deal."

"No, come on. It's too soon." Aaliyah replied.

"The Union is promising him he's going to walk away, he's going to keep his job, his pension, everything. But he's seeing the juror's faces and he's convinced he's going to be found guilty."

"And he will, I can get the conviction." Aaliyah told her. "I don't want to just crossed it out to lower the stats."

"Just taste the waters, see if Aukerman takes a deal now, save time, save the little money we have. Don't drag Campbell's family for months." Grace reiterated. "Start at 15 years, and go as low as you want to."

"It'll be feel like a cheat."

"It'll be a win." Grace said. "Remember, take the win and move on. Plenty of more cases need your attention."

Aukerman took the deal. Aaliyah again watched the press conference standing behind Grace. The State's Attorney had very eloquent words for the occasion because of course she did, it's a feather in her cap.

"Hey Grace." The lawyers were walking to the main office.

"Yes?" Grace stopped and looked back at her friend.

"Wherever you go next, I won't follow you."

Grace frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I know you won't seek reelection. Whatever step you're going to take, I'm going to look for my own thing, that's all."

"I understand."

Well nobody told me I forgot to post the a new chapter, jeez guys, way to drop the ball.

But I won't stop, I can't stop, won't stop the fic!