Call this a bonus scene to chapter 10... (aka when Kat tells Fin she thinks Rollins and Carisi are together)

I have been hung up on the exchange between Rollins and Carisi in 19x14/Chasing Demons about his suit and the dry cleaner again forever. Back then, my clown self was grasping for Rollisi content and I was convinced that scene was implying they slept together and she was just teasing him. So, I felt like that needed to make a comeback now.

A few weeks had passed since Kat and Fin's lunchroom debate over Rollins and Carisi's alleged relationship, and they weren't all that much closer to figuring out if they were a couple or not. Kat casually brought up Nicole once, and Carisi had made it very clear that he and Nicole were over.

Kat wasn't surprised, it did sort of confirm her theory, but Fin told her that wasn't concrete enough, and she had yet to come up with a good reason to show up at Amanda's apartment unannounced, so they had been at a stalemate of sorts while she tried to analyze every interaction between the detective and their ADA. Even if they were avoiding each other at work, when she saw them individually, they were both radiating with pure joy and happiness. There was absolutely no way it was a coincidence that they were both that happy.

Kat was earlier than usual today, and she slowed her pace as she approached her desk and noticed Rollins and Carisi were already there. They were the only ones in the squad room besides the desk sergeant near the elevator. She watched the two of them converse – laughing and never breaking eye contact – as Carisi leaned against the end of Amanda's desk. It was the exact opposite of how they acted during the work day when they barely made eye contact with one another.

This was the way she was used to them being. This was the real them for as far as she was concerned. She knew they were together and nothing Fin could say would make her think otherwise.

"Good morning, guys," she greeted as she walked over to her desk.

Carisi pushed himself away from Amanda's desk and put more space between them. "Hey, Kat."

"You're here awfully early, Counselor."

"I have a meeting with Liv," he supplied with a shrug, "but she's gonna be a little late."

Kat nodded slowly. "Oh."

Kat paused to look at Carisi curiously and Amanda clocked the exact second that Kat noticed Carisi had on the same suit he wore yesterday.

Billie had a complete meltdown of a tantrum over breakfast and essentially started a food fight in the kitchen. Her breakfast ended up everywhere - all over Frannie, the floor and herself, but Carisi – who was already wearing the last clean suit he had at her apartment - had taken the brunt of the oatmeal and mashed up fruit that Billie threw.

Panicking, Amanda knew Kat was going to call him out on it, so she decided to bite the bullet and do it first in order to keep some level of control. "Hey, weren't you wearing that suit yesterday, Counselor?" Amanda asked him, trying to level out the tone of her voice and not use the flirty tone that she sometimes slipped into with him...especially when calling him "counselor."

His eyes flew up to hers and he could read the expression in them – trust me on this. "Uh, yeah," he replied as he looked back down at his tie.

"That's unlike you."

"My dry cleaner shut down. Haven't been able to find a new one yet," he lied, remembering when they had a conversation like this before. It wasn't the best excuse, but it was the best he could come up with without any context as to why Rollins was drawing attention to his suit.

She hummed and he knew she was going to deliver the same line she did before. He didn't know how he'd be able to keep a straight face, and thanked God that he got pretty good at mastering his courtroom poker face these days.

"Oh, that's too bad. I thought maybe you were getting laid."

She said the line so casually – acting like they didn't make love well into the middle of the night last night, and it was such a turn on that he wanted to whisk her away to an empty, camera-less corner of the precinct.

He swallowed, fighting back a cough. "Yeah, well don't think too much, Rollins." He quipped again.

"Sorry I'm late, Carisi," Benson began as she breezed through the bullpen towards her office. "Noah realized he forgot his homework when we pulled up at the school and we had to go all the way back home to get it."

He waved off her apology. "It's fine, Cap. It's just one of those morning," he said as he followed her to her office and Kat raised her eyebrow and shot a look in Amanda's direction.

"What, Kat?" Amanda asked, not looking up from the paperwork on her desk.

"What really happened to Carisi's suits?"

"You heard him. He said the cleaner's shut down."

"That's bullshit, Rollins, and you know it. He wouldn't wear the same exact suit from yesterday if that was the case; he'd wear one from a few days ago. Plus, Carisi and I go to the same place. It definitely didn't shut down."

"Oh," Amanda bit her lip. "Umm..."

"Come on," Kat said gently. "Give me the truth."

"Billie had the mother of all tantrums this morning during breakfast and Carisi's suit was a casualty."

"The counselor have breakfast with you and your girls often?" she asked in a teasing tone.

"Every now and again." She shrugged. "He's their godfather...he likes to spend time with them."

"I think he likes spending time with you, too, Rollins," Kat said.

"Well," Amanda drawled, still focusing her attention on the paperwork on her desk, as she tried to keep her response calm and casual. "That's something only the counselor can answer, isn't it?"

"Okay, well," Kat decided to switch it up, "do you like spending time with him?"

Amanda looked up from her paperwork – the expression on her face hard to decipher. "What do you think? The man can cook and can keep my kids entertained long enough for me to brush my teeth in peace. He could come over for breakfast everyday if he wanted to." And, ever since that night on the Hudson, he was there a majority of nights and mornings, but she wasn't going to admit that to Kat yet. She liked that this relationship was just between them – and the girls– for now.

Kat hummed, and decided to drop it, as she smirked to herself. The only way Carisi's suit could be a casualty of Billie's tantrum and he would end up in the same exact one from yesterday, and still be on time – if not early- for his meeting with Liv, would be if he spent the night at Rollins' apartment.

Kat was convinced – even though she knew her deductive reasoning still wouldn't be enough to convince Fin. He already has said things like "Yeah, they're weird like that. Carisi makes her dinner and they watch stupid reality TV shows together since Jessie was a baby. You gotta get more."

Somehow, she would prove it. She just needed a little bit more time.

And a plan.