The next three days passed with little excitement. After Casey's meeting, in which she had spent almost three hours explaining everything in detail, Olivia and Amanda had spent the remainder of their weekend together, simply enjoying the other's company. They both marveled at the fact that they could call the other woman their girlfriend and truly mean it.

Monday and Tuesday were fairly quiet at the precinct; which the whole squad was grateful for. Sure, doing all of their backed up paper work sucked. But the quiet days were the good days; it meant that no one had been raped, or abused, or murdered.

Wednesday, however, was in a league of it's own. For whatever reason, it seemed like every rapist came out of hiding Tuesday night/ Wednesday morning, and the 16th precinct had three new cases dropped on them. Amaro had a case involving a 25 year old who had been raped getting off the subway, Fin and Munch had been given a case with two girls in college that had been raped at a 'final frat party of the year' party, and Olivia had an alleged case of child abuse involving a football player and his 6 year old daughter dropped on her.

To top all of that off, Alex was running around with an air of controlled chaos about her, as opening arguments for Kate's trial were that afternoon and she couldn't find some of her documents that she planned to reference. In short, to say that 16th was a cluster fuck was the understatement of the year.

Somehow, Alex had managed to get Amanda to help her find the missing documents, and the two were currently shuffling through papers on Rollins' desk.

"Why can't you ask your girlfriend to help you look for these papers?" Amanda asked as she skimmed through a pile of papers on her desk.

"Because Casey is in court trying to get that kiddie porn guy to stay behind bars for the rest of of his life. And the rest of your squad is busy, so I'm stuck with you. Now stop whining and help me find these damn papers! I have to be in court in two hours!" Alex ordered, her voice stern, every ounce of panic suddenly gone. Amanda rolled her eyes at the lawyer, but nonetheless continued to look through the piles of paper.

Half an hour later, the two had effectively searched the entire precinct, with no luck of finding the papers. The two were on their way down to the car to check Alex's office when a thought popped into the lawyer's head.

"I know where they are! I left them on the coffee table in the living room" Alex exclaimed, checking her watch and groaning when she saw the time. "I told Casey I'd be there to watch closing arguments, but there's no way I can get to the apartment, back, and to court in time" she sighed, pulling out her phone to text her girlfriend that she couldn't make it to court. With a groan and somewhat childish stomp of her foot, Amanda sighed.

"Go see your girlfriend kick some ass in court. I'll go get your papers and bring them to you before the trial. I'll put the sirens on so I can get there faster" the detective said, pulling her keys out of her pocket.

"You would really do that?" Alex asked, her eyes hopeful.

"Contrary to popular belief, I do actually like you" Amanda said with a roll of her eyes, smiling slightly.

"Aw, Amanda, I like you too!" Alex said with a squeal, grinning as she hugged the blonde detective.

"Yeah yeah yeah, just give me the keys before I change my mind" Amanda laughed, holding her hand out for the lawyer's house keys.

"You're the best! I'll be in Donnelly's court room for Kate's trial" Alex told the detective, handing over her keys. The two women split then, Amanda heading to her police car and Alex to hail a cab to take her over to the court house.

"This woman seriously owes me for doing this" Amanda grumbled half an hour later as she stepped out of the elevator on the 21st floor of the lawyers' apartment building. She walked quickly down the hall, stopping in front of their door. As she turned the key and flicked on the lights, she was startled to find two pairs of eyes starring at her from the couch. Amanda laughed when she realized to whom they belonged to; kittens.

Two kittens, one orange and white, the other a calico, sat next to each other on the couch, blinking curiously at the new visitor. They were small; Amanda assumed they couldn't have been more than two months old. As she walked over to the coffee table to grab the documents (which sat right there, out in the open) they jumped down to greet her.

"Hi guys! Are you two lookin' for your mamas?" the detective asked, picking up the papers. She was greeted by a soft mew from the calico. Smiling, she picked the small kitten up. "You are? Well they're kinda busy kickin' some bad guys' butts in court right now." Amanda paused, setting the cat down and checking the time. "Which is where I need to be" she paused, taking her phone out of her pocket and taking a quick picture of the cats. "Y'all are too cute. I need something to harass your mamas later" Amanda told the kittens as she slid the phone back into her pocket and walking out of the apartment.

Down in the car, she sent the picture to Olivia, with the caption "Alex and Casey got cats. Glad to see they're upholding stereotypes". Amanda also sent the picture to the two ADAs, with the caption "Could you two be any gayer?" She was rather proud of that one, she had to admit.

A minute later, her phone buzzed in her hand. She opened it and smiled; one unread text from Olivia. She found herself doing that often lately; looking forward to the next time she would hear from her girlfriend, or whatever they were calling each other.

"Could they be bigger lesbians?" the text read. Amanda laughed, quickly texting back "That's what I said!". With a smile, she pulled away from the curb and into the busy Upper West Side traffic.

Amanda made it to the court house with 25 minutes to spare, and she found Casey, Alex and Fin, who had been the lead detective on Casey's case, standing out front of the courthouse, enjoying the beautiful June afternoon.

"Here's your damn papers Cabot" Amanda said, a fake angry tone to her voice. Alex smiled gratefully, taking the papers from the detective.

"You are a Godsend. I owe you big time" the lawyer said with a laugh. Amanda shook her head.

"Just make sure you get Kate the justice she deserves" the detective said, earning her a nod from the lawyer. There was a tension filled pause, and the detective continued. "So, do you two ever check your phones or what?" she asked. Both ADAs immediately reached for their iPhones, Alex turning her's on first. The redheaded lawyer looked over her girlfriend's shoulder, snorting when she read the text.

"Wow Amanda" Casey said with a laugh, shaking her head. Fin leaned over and looked at the picture, laughing at his partner's very...creative caption.

"Aw, they're cute" Fin said with a smile.

"I'll have you know that I wanted a puppy; it was Casey who had to get the twin terrors sitting in our apartment right now. Speaking of which, how was the apartment?" Alex asked the detective. Amanda shrugged.

"It seemed fine to me...why do y'all call 'em the twin terrors? They seemed really sweet to me" she asked with a smile. Alex snorted, and Casey shoved her girlfriend in the arm.

"Yeah, well they're not so sweet at three in the morning when they decide they want to attack any visible body part" The blonde ADA said, a fake stony glare sent towards the other lawyer. Casey just smiled sweetly. An awkward pause fell over the group, and Amanda decided to break it.

"Well on that note...when did you get them? I was over at your apartment a week ago and there was a serious lack of kittens" she asked, causing the three others to laugh. Alex paused, thinking about it for a minute.

"Four days ago I think...we went to the shelter in hopes of looking for a dog and Casey all but begged me to get those two instead" she told the group. Casey scoffed, shaking her head. If only the group knew that Alex had all too willingly agreed to her request to adopt the kittens.

"Well aren't you a good girlfriend" Fin said with a smile. The ADA rolled her eyes, lightly punching the man in the arm.

"Oh shut up Fin" Alex said with a laugh.

"I'm just sayin'...what are their names?" Fin asked.

"The orange one is Toby and the calico is Jane" Casey told the group. Amanda raised an eyebrow.

"Where'd you get those names?" she asked. Alex smiled as her girlfriend answered the question.

"Jane Austen is Alex's favorite author...I just liked the name Toby" Casey told their friends. They all nodded as Alex checked her iPhone, noticing that she had ten minutes until the beginning of her trial.

"I need to get to court...are you three joining me?" Alex asked. Casey nodded, but Amanda shook her head.

"I can't...Fin and I have an errand to run" the detective said, shooting Fin a look. The man understood exactly what his partner was trying to say, and he agreed with her immediately.

"Yeah, sorry Alex" the man said, looking questioningly at his partner. Amanda avoided his gaze.

"I'll be there tomorrow though to help with trial prep for Kate" the blonde detective reassured the lawyer. Alex smiled.

"Good. Alright, well I will see you two tomorrow then I guess" she told the detectives, turning around and walking up the courthouse steps, Casey close behind her. She had just reached the top when Fin's voice stopped her.

"Yo Cabot" he called from halfway up the steps. Alex turned around to face the man.

"Yes Detective?" she asked, glancing at her watch and realizing that if she didn't leave now she would indeed be late for the trial. Getting Judge Donnelly on this case was as close to a miracle as humanly possible, considering she had a soft spot for kids and hate crimes, especially when together; but that didn't mean she would miss the opportunity to rip on the ADA if she was late.

"Go kick some ass!" Fin called. Alex and Casey grinned widely, turning on their heels and running into the courthouse.

It wasn't until Fin and Amanda were in the car that Fin brought up the elephant in the room...well, elephant in the car.

"Okay, what's so important that we had to miss Cabot's trial for it? I know how invested you are in this case" the man asked his partner. Amanda shrugged as she pulled away from the curb into the busy traffic.

"I thought we'd grab a coffee and catch up" she said nonchalantly. Fin snorted.

"Yeah, and I thought I'd just call Barack and ask him if he wanted to play some ball tonight. Really Amanda, what's so important?" he asked, eying the woman out of the corner of his eye. Amanda sighed again, stopping at a red light.

"I have to tell you something, and I figured that it would be better to do so in a place that was not Alexandra Cabot's trial...lord knows she'd probably have me shot with my own gun" Amanda told him, both of the detectives laughing at the last point. She was right; Alex would probably go that far. Fin nodded, satisfied with the answer for now.

The two remained quiet for the rest of the drive, and it wasn't until Fin and Amanda sat down at a table in the back of the coffee shop that Fin spoke up.

"Alright Amanda. You got your coffee. You're here, I'm here. Now spill" the man told his partner. The blonde sighed quietly, taking a sip of her iced latte.

"On c'mon Fin. Can't a girl just get a coffee with her partner and not have a motive behind it?" Amanda asked, feigning innocence. A pointed look from Fin, however, made her sigh again. "Okay fine. I gotta tell ya somethin'...I should have told you a long time ago, seeing as you're my partner and everything" the blonde began. Fin nodded, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. He was pretty sure he knew where this was going, but he decided he needed to let his partner get there on her own. He didn't want to freak her out or scare her into not telling him her secret.

"I...I...I didn't think it would be this hard" Amanda muttered after two failed attempts of trying to get the words out. She sighed, starring at the coffee in her hands. The cold from the ice was making her hands start to burn, but she couldn't force herself to let go. Amanda couldn't believe that she was finding this so difficult. She'd lost count of how many times and to how many people she had come out to, so why was telling Fin such a big deal? She had already told Olivia (and kissed her multiple times), and the brunette had been nothing but accepting and caring. 'I mean, he's got a gay son for God's sake! He's not going to care. Just man up and tell him already!' Amanda yelled at herself internally.

Fin, noticing his partner's internal turmoil on her face, reached across the table and rested his hand on the blonde's arm. He didn't say anything; he didn't need to. Amanda gave the man a small, shaky smile.

"I don't know why this is so hard. I guess, I guess I'd like to start off by sayin' that I'm sorry for not telling you this sooner. I just can't get over the fear of you hatin' me after I tell you...it's stupid, I know" Amanda rambled, tears appearing in the corners of her eyes. Fin frowned. He didn't like seeing his partner upset. With a sigh, he decided to bite the proverbial bullet

"Manda, are you gambling again?" Fin asked quietly, crossing his arms over his chest. Amanda's eyes grew wide and she sat up straighter, shaking her head furiously.

"What? No, I'm not. I swear to God, I'm never going back to that time" she said hurriedly. Fin nodded, relieved that his partner hadn't fallen down that dark hole again. He leaned back in the chair, patiently waiting for the woman to continue.

"So...yeah. I'm not gambling again. What I wanted to tell you was that," Amanda paused taking a deep breath. Well, here goes nothing. "I'm gay, Fin" the blonde whispered quietly, her hands shaking as she finally forced herself to let go of the coffee cup.

Fin didn't say anything for a moment, he simply sat back in his chair, starring at his partner. That made Amanda nervous, and tears welled up in the corners of her eyes as she fidgeted with her hands in her lap. When the man noticed how upset the woman was growing, he frowned, leaning across the table and grabbing a hold of the blonde's hand.

"Manda, you know I don't care 'bout stuff like that" Fin said, making the blonde smile. "But I'm glad you told me" he continued. Amanda laughed nervously, wiping away the tears that sat in the corners of her eyes.

"I'm glad I told you too" she said, letting go of the man's hand and taking a sip of her coffee.

"Well, we better get back to the precinct before Cragen sends SWAT to find us" Fin laughed, standing up from his seat and walking towards the door, Amanda following him. As they got back into the car, this time with Fin behind the wheel, the man spoke again.

"So, does this mean I can tell you about the chicks I bang?" he asked her, pulling away from the curb. Amanda laughed.

"Sure Fin. Why not. I'm not telling you about mine though" she added as an after thought, feeling that it was something that should be stated now, mainly for her (and Olivia's) benefit.

"That's just cold" Fin laughed. A thought popped into his head as he turned the corner. "So does this mean you actually have a thing for Liv?" he asked. Amanda sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Oh give it a rest Fin" she said exasperatedly, laughing as the man's face turned into that of a three year old sulking after being told off by his mother. Amanda smiled to herself as they pulled into a spot out front of the precinct; maybe things would actually be okay after all.

A/N: I wanted to put so much more into this chapter, but I decided to split it into two. Casey and Alex's engagement will now be chapter 16, so stay tuned for that. Thank you all once again for sticking with this story. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'm sorry for the wait again. Please review!