Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.

AN: this is the first time I've written for this fandom, and I'm not that familiar with American Law, so bear with me if anything seems off.

Chapter 1

The competition between Lockhart/Gardner and Florrick/Agos had only gotten worse after the Lampe-Riggs trial. In addition to it, the reveals about the Peter Florrick election fraud were about to be made public, which only increased the tension for everyone involved, Alicia in particular. She couldn't believe that after everything that happened, Peter was risking all they had rebuilt again in such a careless manner. And, what is worse, this time it would directly affect their son, who should never have had to testify in court about such subject. Peter was throwing away his career, dragging his family, and probably Alicia's new firm, down with him.

Florrick/Agos & Associates was still too young to have their name drawn to this discussion; they were expecting five important clients would no longer want their names associated with a firm run by the wife of someone who couldn't keep himself away from public scandals. And so, they had been working around the clock to get new accounts and make sure the old ones were as happy as they could possibly be. But Alicia was tired, and not just physically; she was emotionally drained from this war Will seemed to have declared against her, in particular, much more than her firm. Before, she was looking forward to the competition, as she admired Will's intelligence and wanted to test herself against him more than anyone could have anticipated. But Will was playing low, doing his best to mess with her feelings instead of her logic. She should have known this would happen – Will was hurting, and wanted Alicia to feel as betrayed as he did. Excellent lawyer that he was, Will was winning their war in every way that counted.

It came as no surprise, then, that this new match would pit Alicia against her former lover once more, the day before that damned video was set to be made public. The Vanderbilt Industries, an important client that had been last represented by both Will and Alicia a year before, was in trouble; not really caring about the law firm's schism, they contacted both and arranged that whoever arrived first would get to represent them, so urgent was their need for a lawyer they trusted. This law suit would attract great attention and a substantial amount of money, things that both the starting firm and the expanding one needed as much as they could get – plus, the pleasure of beating their adversaries to the prize was too tempting for either to resist.

That was how Alicia found herself speeding down the interstate with Will close behind her. His car being more potent than hers, he was soon by her side. They glared at each other for a few seconds before Will cut his way to the front of her. Alicia was pissed; this was the last straw in a series of offenses, and she couldn't let him get this client, the last bit of control Alicia felt like she had on her life. There was a bus in front of Will; knowing him, he certainly assumed Alicia wouldn't try to outrun both vehicles, and so would stay right where he was, which would only aggravate her further. The joke was on him; she could see far enough ahead to know this was a safe maneuver. Hitting the gas pedal, she was soon side by side with Will's car, when she heard him yelling at her and something hit her hard. She never saw the truck.