Author's Note: This takes place shortly after Amy found out Michael had a detective following her….you'll get that from the story itself.

It All Comes Out

            "Our next meeting will be at…" Amy trailed off, waiting for Bruce to reply.

            "9:00 tomorrow morning," he replied.

            "9:00 tomorrow morning," Amy repeated. "I'll see you all then."  She climbed down from her chair, and she and Bruce walked to her office.

            As they reached her office, her beeper went off, and she sighed. "I have to go pick Lauren up. Can you get my calls for me?"

            "Yeah." Amy left and Bruce deposited the files from that day's cases on Amy's desk. Then, something on her desk caught his attention. He knew he probably shouldn't be rifling through his boss' desk, but he was curious.

            He moved the papers to reveal a pile of black-and-white photographs of himself and Amy kissing.

            "Hey, cancel that, Bruce," he suddenly heard. It was Amy.

            "What are these?" he asked.

            "Where did you get those?" Amy demanded angrily. "Do you always go through my desk when I leave?" She tried to grab the pictures from him, but he pulled them away from her.

            "They were sitting on the desk, and I'd like to know what the hell is going on," Bruce responded.

            "It's nothing," Amy insisted. "Really. Just forget about it."

            "Dammit, Judge Gray, this isn't something you can pass off as nothing. Why do you have pictures of us? Where did they come from?"

            "Alright, you really want to know? Michael is trying to get my daughter taken away from me, he had a detective follow me, and now I'm being accused of having an affair with my CSO, which does not look good for my motherly image."

            "But, I wasn't working for you then," Bruce interjected.

            "That doesn't matter to Michael. Why would it? I'm going to get my daughter taken away, and there's nothing I, or anybody else, can do about it." After that statement, she flew out of the room, not wanting to face Bruce anymore, or anyone, for that matter.

            "Judge Gray!" Bruce called, chasing after her. "Amy!" She finally stopped, her head in her hands. "I'll help you."

            "Nobody can help me, Bruce, don't you understand that?" Amy said. "I've made too many mistakes in the eyes of the court to be a good mother." She started crying, continuing. "Every relationship has been a scam, everyone I care about gets hurt…"

            "Shh, it's okay," Bruce comforted, allowing her to fall into his arms. "I'll do anything to make sure Lauren isn't taken away."

            "I can't ask you to do that," Amy said, looking up at him.

            "I'm offering," he reported. "I don't want to see you get hurt." They continued to look at each other, until Amy interjected.

            "The detective…"

            "I know," Bruce replied, still staring into Amy's eyes.

            "I don't want to get caught again."

            "We won't."

            "How do you know?"

            "I'm optimistic." He lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her softly. She put her hands behind his head, and kissed him back. When they broke away, Amy buried her head in Bruce's chest and grabbed his shirt in her hands.

            "I am going to be in so much trouble," she moaned.

            "So what are you saying?"

            "The detective is going to have his hands full for awhile." She looked up at him and saw his grin, and she knew this wasn't "just a kiss." She sighed and looked at the floor. "What are we getting ourselves into? I mean, how is everyone going to react to us?"

            "Because I'm black or because I work for you?" Bruce said softly.

            "Because you're Bruce," Amy laughed. "We've always been just friends. How will our daughters react?"

            "They'll probably scream then yell something about a slumber party and we'll all be doomed," Bruce responded.

            "Oh, God, one prepubescent girl is enough," Amy moaned, then laughed. "Maybe they'll be so busy with each other that they'll stay out of our hair."

            "One can only hope. But I do believe we have another case in a few minutes. We better get back in there."

            "Yeah, you're right." She started walking back towards the courtroom, but Bruce said her name and she stopped.

            "Should I pick you up at eight?" he asked, smiling.

            "Make it seven, and wear something nice," Amy responded, walking back to the courtroom.

            Bruce smiled, shook his head, and followed her.

            Later that night, Amy was getting ready for her date and Lauren walked into her bedroom. "Hey, Mom, where are you going?"

            Amy paused in the middle of putting in an earring, and finally said, "Uh, I have a date."

            "With who?"

            "Well, I guess you'll just find out when he comes to pick me up, won't you?"

            Lauren sat in silence for a few minutes, then said, "Will I like him?"

            "Uh, yeah, I think you'll really like him."

            "Really? Cool. Does he have children?"

            "Yes, he has a daughter."

            "Cool! Is she my age?"

            "Yes, she is."

            "Maybe I know her."

            "You probably do. Anyway, it's getting close to 7. He should be here any minute, and then you can…meet him."

            "Awesome." With that, Lauren hopped off from Amy's bed and ran down the hall.

            "Let's hope this goes well," Amy muttered to herself, finishing putting her earrings in, grabbing her purse, and heading downstairs to meet Bruce.

            As she was part of the way down the stairs, the doorbell rang, and Lauren flew to get it before Amy could stop her.

            "Hi, Bruce," she said as she opened the door. "My mom has a date tonight, so she's not available."

            "I know she has a date. That's why I'm here," he replied.

            "Why?" Lauren asked, confused. "Are you my babysitter?"

            "No," he chuckled, raising an eyebrow at Amy. "I'm your mom's date."

            "Oh, look at that. It's getting late," Amy interrupted, walking over to Bruce. "Lauren, shouldn't you be in bed by now?"

            "It's 7 o'clock, Mom. I'm not a baby," Lauren responded.

            "Well, then, don't you have something you should be doing?"

            "No. I was looking forward to meeting your date, but I guess you're just having dinner with Bruce, so it's not even a date. Right?"

            "Let me guess. You didn't tell her," Bruce said to Amy.

            "What? Didn't tell me what?" Lauren asked impatiently.

            "When I said I was your mom's date, I meant date. Not just 'friend she's having dinner with,'" Bruce explained.

            "Oh," Lauren said with a confused look on her face. "So does this mean you could be my step dad?"
            "Wow, I bet we'll lose our reservation if we don't get going," Amy interrupted again, pushing Bruce out the door. "I expect you to be in bed asleep by the time I get home," she directed towards Lauren.

            "Aren't you going to answer my question?" Lauren cried after them as the exited the house. The door closed behind Amy and Bruce, and Lauren slumped down on the couch.

            Bruce and Amy arrived at the restaurant and as soon as they were seated, Amy started apologizing.

            "I am so sorry about Lauren. Sometimes she just doesn't know when to be quiet. I swear, I need to get a muzzle for her or something, and stick it over that little mouth of hers."

            "Amy, it's alright," Bruce laughed. "I understand. I know what young girls are like. I have one of my own, remember?"

            "Yeah. Of course. I just didn't want to make things more awkward than they already were."

            "Yeah, about that…why didn't you tell Lauren? Did you tell anyone?" Bruce asked, a concerned look on his face.

            "It's nobody's business what I do with my personal life," she said, looking down at the napkin in her lap. Bruce reached out and gently lifted her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye. "I'm scared."

            "Of what? That your family won't approve?" he asked softly. "You know that's not going to happen. It's not like I'm some random guy you picked up off the street. Hell, with your family, they'd probably start planning a wedding right away."

            "That they would. You know how much Gillian loves weddings. Not saying that this is anything close to a marriage. Oh, God, I didn't mean for it to sound like that." She caught a glimpse of Bruce, smiling and laughing, and said, "I should probably keep my mouth closed, huh?"

            "You know that's what gets you in trouble all the time," Bruce teased her.

            "Hey," Amy said in surprise. "That's no way to talk to your boss."

            "Oh, that's all I am now," Bruce said, grinning. "Your employee."

            "No, I never said that," Amy corrected. "You're my slave now. You'll cater to my every desire without a second thought."

            "Man, if this is what you're like in relationships, no wonder you never have a boyfriend," Bruce laughed.

            Amy's face suddenly turned somber, and she focused her attention on the menu. "So, what looks good?"
            "Amy, I'm sorry," Bruce apologized, realizing he had hit a nerve, and tried to touch her hand. As soon as his hand met hers, however, she jerked her hand from the table and put it on her lap. "Amy, come on, I was just joking around. I didn't mean anything by it."

            "No, you're right," she said, finally looking at him. "I'm horrible in relationships. Just look at what happened between me and Michael. Our marriage fell apart because of me."

            "Hey, I don't have the best record as far as relationships go, either. We're both in the same situation here. The least we can do is help each other through it." He looked at her with apologetic eyes and she smiled at him, putting her hand on top of his.

            "Thank you," she said softly.

            "For what?" Bruce asked, amused.

            "For being you," she responded. He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it gently.

            "Shall we order now or are we just sitting here all night?" Bruce asked. Amy hit him playfully with her menu, and soon they were awaiting their meals.

            "Bruce, how are we going to go about this?" Amy suddenly asked, looking him in the eye. "There's a lot we need to work through. There's work, and our families…"

            "We can do it, Amy," Bruce assured her, taking her hand. "If we can survive the court system, we can survive anything." That brought a smile to her face and Bruce chuckled.

            "I'm just so worried," Amy said. "I'm worried about losing my job and how everyone will react, but most of all, I'm worried about losing you. What if something bad happens with us? What if we have a bitter break-up and we never want to speak to each other again? I don't want that to happen."

            "It won't happen," Bruce insisted. "We've been through a few bad times with each other, but look where we are now. Relationships like ours don't just happen every day. No matter what happens, I'll be there for you, and you better say the same thing!" Amy started laughing, but there were tears running down her face. Bruce saw and wiped them away with his thumb. "You okay?"

            "Yeah," she said, smiling. "I was hoping you'd say that." She laughed and he picked up her hand and kissed it.

            The waiter brought them their meals and they ate their meals in a comfortable rapport.