A/N: The last time I started a fanfiction with the words "I have no idea where this will go" I ended up with a still ongoing 40something chapters story. So you are warned. I have no idea where this will go. The idea crossed my mind and I had to follow it.

Updates might be slow since I'm still working on Unexpectedly, I'll try to keep the chapters short so you don't have to wait too much.

What else? Oh, yes… enjoy!

"We really made it…" Alicia considered, as she looked around with a pleased smile at the yet slightly unfamiliar surroundings. She breathed deeply, inhaling the mixed scent of fresh paint and wood furniture. Unfamiliar, a bit alien, bare and still impersonal. Except for the elegant, shiny sign hanging outside the front door.

'Florrick, Agos and Associates'

Rocking on her leather chair at her desk in her corner office, she still couldn't believe how things had turned so ugly at Lockhart & Gardner in the space of a few short weeks. She had to swallow all her pride, self-esteem and her hard-gained self-sufficiency to ask Peter for some financial support. Because even if the offices were on lease, all the collateral expenses had been a real bloodbath. But in the end, it was totally worth some humility.

The view from the eighth floor of an old building on South LaSalle Street was nowhere close to the one she got used to over the last four years, but it was her view, thus special.

"Yeah we did," Cary said with a broad grin, comfortably sitting on Alicia's desk. "We went deep from the cubby-holes' days…"

"And from the office-cohabitation days," she pointed out with a raised brow and a knowing smile.

For a brief moment, Alicia clouded over as she remembered how she had loved her now old firm, and how she had ended up hating it when she was given – then quickly taken away - equity partnership. She didn't fight. Or scream. Or protest. She had gone back to her office, taken her stuff and on her way out, she had stopped at the door. 'Good luck,' she had said to Cary before walking away for good. The day after, she had found a message on her cellphone. 'Need an associate?'.

Now they both had their long craved for corner office, four associates, a reasonable number of clients and a new investigator. Because Kalinda, in spite of all the most recent and unpleasant events, had chosen not to join her. Still, she had helped them find a good replacement. Aline Cooper was a blond in her early thirties. Smart, intuitive and enthusiastic, with a confident attitude and the gift of the gab, her temperament seemed to fit perfectly into the dynamic of the newborn firm. With some luck, Kalinda's unlimited connections would prove to be useful for the millionth time.

"It wasn't that bad," Cary noticed with an amused face.

Alicia's answer was a face of plain confusion. "What?"

"The office-cohabitation."

Alicia smiled. "A bit chaotic," she shrugged, "but the company was enjoyable," she said with a light nod.

"Talking about enjoyable company," Cary started, as he peeped around, looking through the glass walls in search of someone whom he didn't seem to find, "what do you think of the investigator?"

Alicia shrugged. She knew very well what Cary's doubts were about and she tried to dissipate any hint of melancholy before they would end up feeling miserable for what – and whom – they left behind. "She seems… very capable… and enthusiastic," she said, as she peeped around herself, unable to spot the woman. She sighed. "It was her choice, Cary," she remarked, not hiding a shadow of bitterness. Cary would never admit it in front of anyone, but Alicia knew that his feelings for Kalinda were of a nature that went beyond the mere friendship and the relationship between coworkers. She had sometimes tried to picture them together. They would make an interesting pair, one of those opposites-attract-each- other' kind of couples she watched in some movies. "Plus, it's our first official day as named partners," she said as she stood up with a knowing smile, "and it's something that requires celebration," she added as she took two bottles of beer from the fridge and handed one to Cary, "and good thoughts," she winked.

"Shouldn't such a celebration require some kind of champagne?" Cary asked with an amused tone, as he stood up and lifted the bottle in front of him.

"Nahhh… champagne is for snobs," she considered, throwing an approving look at the bottle.

"Champagne is not for snobs!" Cary contradicted her, "I like champagne… and I'm not snob…"

Alicia burst into laughter and raised her bottle in a toast. "To Florrick, Agos and Associates!"

"To named partners," Cary added with a nod.

"To new beginnings," Alicia went on. They had so many reasons to celebrate, didn't they?

Cary looked away thoughtfully for a moment, maybe trying to come up with another good reason to celebrate, then looked back at Alicia. "To snobs!"

Alicia laughed and nodded in approval. "And to all those clients who were brave enough to follow us." They weren't many. The name of Lockhart & Gardner had become stronger now that the financial troubles were gone, although they all knew that the relatively peaceful and safe situation was certainly precarious, now that they had lost some of their best associates.

A fleeting thought eluded her only-good-thoughts and intentions, and alighted on Will, releasing a mixed feeling of anger, betrayal, and guilt. The last look he gave her before she left her old firm for good was something she wasn't going to forget that easily.

"To us," she concluded, then joined their bottles with a light clink.

"To us," Cary repeated with a smile.