Tiana's arm wrapped around Elsa, pulling her close as they watched a show. After her loss the previous day, they'd spent most of the day together. Elsa hated how badly she'd handled it. She had never had a case affect her quite like that.

"Do you want me to cancel my trip on Monday?" Tiana kissed Elsa's temple, her arm wrapping protectively about her. "I want to be here for you."

Elsa shook her head, leaning into her partner's embrace. "I can't ask you to do that." No matter how badly I may want to. "I'll be fine. I'm going back to work in the morning. I just needed a day to adjust. I'm used to expecting a new case with Kuzco every couple months." It's gonna be weird never representing him again. I guess we'll always have appeals.

"Elsa, you do know that you're more important than my work, right?" She pulled back, looking into her eyes. "Honey, I mean it. I know I put my work first a lot, but I'm always here for you. Whenever you need me."

Elsa studied her. Tiana had actually shown up when she needed her most. She'd left her alone a lot of late, but Elsa could hardly blame her for that. Maybe she was just worrying over nothing. "I know." She could almost believe it. I'm not sure how honestly either of us could ever say that our jobs don't come first.

"Just give me the word and I'll stay. I know how hard this case hit you. I promise, I don't need to work with the new chef in Seattle just yet." She rubbed a small circle on Elsa's shoulder. "Let me take care of you. "

"It's fine. Go on to Seattle, maybe check on Anna for me. I'm a little worried about her. I just need to get back to work. I'll have a new case and I'll be my usual self - kicking ass, taking names, making millions. I just have to get back on the horse instead of these paltry little things I've been settling." I just need to be in court. I'll feel better then.

Tiana kissed her cheek. "Okay. I'll go say hello to the beautiful redhead all on my own."

"Sleep with my sister and I'll break up with you."

She pouted, looking pitifully at Elsa. "Just over that? I'd let you sleep with her."

Elsa's glare silenced that.

"Fine. I'll behave. I suppose I must, after how you've been feeling."

Elsa's glare remained.

"I'll keep my hands to myself and just check on her. Anything you want me to ask?"

Elsa considered this. It had been over a week since she'd last heard from Anna, but they were supposed to talk on Saturday. "I guess just make sure that she's managing okay. Being a single parent had to be a big change."

"You're a good sister." Tiana squeezed her hand. "I'm sure she's just been busy. Have you tried calling her?"

"Too many times, but we're talking in two days. I'm just being crazy. I'm sure Olaf and Moana are keeping her plenty busy."

"Maybe I'll get to see Moana." She grinned.

Elsa patted her. "You're such a slut."

She placed her hand to her heart, feigning offense. "My, Elsa, if my father heard you talking like that." Her southern accent was on full display as she went on. "Treating his daughter like that. I don't think he'd approve of our marriage."

Elsa's heart skipped a beat. She stared at Tiana, her playful anger fading as she met her eyes. "We're not married."

Tiana blinked and averted her gaze, pulling away, almost imperceptibly. "Well I guess we won't be if you keep talking about me that way."

Elsa watched her. It seemed like she was genuinely concerned about this. "I'm sorry I never got to meet your dad," she offered, unsure of what else could be bothering her.

Her look grew distant. "He would've loved you. Granted, he didn't know I was gay, but he would've come around pretty quickly once he saw how great you are."

She relaxed a bit, leaning into Tiana. "Well I'm sorry I didn't get to meet him."

"I just hate that our kids will never meet their grandfather."

Elsa stared at her partner. She was glad she wasn't drinking anything at the time, as it would be all over the coffee table. She swallowed, trying to avoid seeming as shaken as she was. I was so enjoying avoiding this conversation. She only brought it up for the first time last month, and now she just expects me to have already agreed to it? "Tiana," she began, only to realize she had nowhere to go with it.

"Yes?" She looked nervous. It hurt Elsa to see it. She knew how big this conversation was. Wasn't today supposed to be for relaxing?

"So you really do want kids?" Perfect. Make yourself sound even dumber.

Tiana swallowed and turned her gaze to the coffee table. Elsa was not exactly hard to read at the moment. "Of course I do."

I swear we had this conversation before and neither of us were that sure. What does she mean 'of course?'

"Don't you?" She cut Elsa's thoughts short.

Elsa stared back at her. Her heart felt like it was going to jump right out of her chest. "Not really. At least not yet. I don't know if I ever will, but I don't want to ruin what we have. A kid would change things. Maybe someday. After I'm a named partner. I don't have time for a kid yet." She watched her girlfriend's eyes for any clue as to just how badly she'd fucked things up.

To her surprise, Tiana's poker face held. She sighed, her back straight, and nodded. "You're right." Elsa swore she could hear hurt in her voice but she couldn't be certain. "We both have full lives. We wouldn't have time for a child." She rose from the couch and turned away.

"Honey?" Elsa started to follow her.

Tiana waved her hand, gesturing for her to stay. "I'm just grabbing us some wine."

The two avoided the topic for the rest of the evening and managed to relax, but Elsa could feel that something had changed. She was worried that she'd lose her girlfriend if she didn't do anything, but she wasn't sure what she could do. I'm not ready. I'm just not. Tiana seemed as affectionate as ever, and they were able to relax and have a good night, but it only took her mind from the Kuzco case by giving her something new to worry about.

Coffee in hand, Elsa sat at her desk, blinking away the last remnants of sleep. She was not feeling up for the day. She checked her email and found nothing too interesting waiting for her - discussion on a few cases that were all but resolved, someone asking for legal advice who she promptly referred to an associate, and a memo for an upcoming partners meeting.

Before she had time to busy herself with something else, a knock sounded from her door. "Come in," she called, expecting Albert.

Instead she was greeted by a tall brunette in a well-fitted pinstripe suit with a short skirt. Elsa quirked an eyebrow at her as she approached the desk. "Can I help you?"

"Oh, Ms. Agnarrsen, you're in, hi." She paused a few feet into the office, looking toward the chair in front of Elsa's desk. "Could I steal you for a minute?"

Elsa glanced at the time in the corner of her monitor. She didn't have anything pressing. I ought to at least try to be decent to associates. Maybe I'll find another Belle. I'd rather encourage her than discourage her this time. "My time is yours." No. Too far. I hate it. "Just don't take too long." Why is being nice so hard? I swear there's a middle ground. Am I just rusty?

She nodded and threw herself into the chair, tossing a manilla envelope on the table. "I have my first case as first chair tomorrow. I mean I know what I'm doing – I think – but I just need to be sure. I mean I don't want to cost the firm anything if I could be doing better, right? I've second chaired a lot, and I did fine in mock trial, I just," she paused, staring at Elsa through widened brown eyes, "Please help. You're the best litigator our firm has. Your firm."

Elsa winced, hopefully imperceptibly. I am not. If I was the best litigator I wouldn't have lost on Tuesday. I wouldn't be feeling like this. "I'm sure Mr. Gaston would be a bigger help to you, Ms. -" right, I never learn associates names. Okay, there's somewhere I can at least be better. If I can't be the best lawyer, I can at least be a decent boss. "Sorry, what was your name?"

She extended her hand. "Amelia Thermopolis." Her grip was impressive. Elsa matched it the best she could and shook her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you for real. You're a bit of a hero to me. I know they say never meet your heroes – sorry, not important. Please help me get ready?"

Elsa took a breath as she measured up this woman. I'm just going to disappoint her. She nodded before she had a chance to fall any deeper down that hole. It doesn't matter how badly I fucked things up last time, I still have enough trial experience that I can help her. Even if that's all I can do, I'll do it. She hated how this case had gotten to her. Tiana's right. I'm still not ready for this again. I should've stayed home. It was too late for that now, however, and she had a job to do. "What's the case?"

"I doubt it'll be too interesting to you, it's pretty small, but I'm really excited about it. My client – our client was wrongfully terminated because their employer violated HIPAA."

Elsa considered this. "What was their employer? HIPAA is pretty specific. Also you can't sue for violating it, are you sure we have a case?" Maybe with wrongful termination she could manage, it would depend on the exact specifics, but you just report HIPAA violations, not sue over them.

Ms. Thermopolis shook her head excitedly. "He worked for a hospital, but that's actually not true, there is legal precedent in New York that would allow you to sue for a HIPAA violation."

Elsa quirked an eyebrow at her. "Go on."

"Chanko v. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., from a couple years ago, it established that you can sue over a medical practioner's breach of confidentiality."

Elsa nodded approvingly. I'll have to look into that at some point. Maybe we finally found another associate who's competent at research. I'll make sure she's competent in court too. "All right. So we can sue. What are the facts of the case?"

The associate's grin grew wider, she was practically salivating over the case. This is gonna be good. "Our client was on drugs. He saw his hospital as a patient when he was in an accident – not at work, in a car accident – and they tested him. He came up positive for heroin, and they fired him."

Elsa chewed on her lip. They certainly have good cause, but if they only know because of the test - "Nothing ever happened on the job that gave them cause to suspect?"

She shook her head. "No! I've even received his performance reviews, they were all excellent. They didn't know a thing until he came in as their patient. They tested him and fired him on the spot, and even told him that it was because of the drug test. This case wins itself."

She smiled at the enthusiastic young attorney. She missed that vigor. "Yeah, you have a a slam dunk of a case. What do you need my help with?"

Amelia flushed, averting her gaze. "I'm just nervous. If I mess up a case this easy, then there's no way I'll have a future here, and I have no experience."

That hurt. Not like I'm in a different position. I never should have fucked that case up so badly. It was my job to manage my client. I could have gotten him to take the deal. "I won't let that happen. When's the case? Tomorrow, right?"

She nodded.

"Then let's get started."

Elsa spent the rest of the day readying her new pupil for trial. They went over her opening statement, her direct, what she was expecting for cross, and how to deal with the opposition. "Who's opposing counsel?"

She groaned. "This dick from my class." I know how that goes. Hopefully she has better luck. "I don't know how he was even able to get this case. He's as junior as I am, why would a big hospital leave it to him?"

Elsa pursed her lips. That was weird. "No second chair?"

She shook her head. "No, there's some other lawyer, I didn't recognize the name, second chairing him. A Mr. O'Connell."

Elsa nodded knowingly, but hid any response beyond that. He's good. If he trusts this kid to first chair, then he must be good too. "That means he's not as good as you. He still has to have training wheels. We trust you to handle this on your own. Don't let this kid – what's his name?"

"Josh, I mean Mr. Bryant."

"Right. Don't let him intimidate you. He probably has less experience than you do, you've second chaired a number of cases, you've proven yourself already, you don't need any help here. You've got this." Elsa hesitated, but put an arm on Amelia's shoulder. The verbal abuse and mistreatment she'd endured as an associate may have hardened her into the woman she was today, but it had scared off plenty of promising attorneys, and cost her more than enough already. She wasn't going to repeat her firm's mistakes. "We've gone over everything. I have no doubt you'll win this." Especially when literally every ounce of fact and law seems to be on her side.

She smiled, placing her hand on Elsa's. It was oddly intimate, but Elsa maintained her composure. She could allow some level of familiarity. "You really think that? I'm not just gonna screw it up?"

It's like talking to myself. "Yes. I'm sure."

That seemed to muliffy her. "I'll go finish up my other work for the day. Thank you so much, Ms. Agnarrsen. I really think I can manage it now."

Elsa beamed at her. At least I can make someone feel better. "There's not a doubt in my mind. It wasn't any trouble. You have a good day."

She smiled back and left the office, presumably headed for her cubicle. Elsa barely managed to sit down before another knock came at her door. "Who is it?" She called, not up for another surprise. She'd already spent her entire day on the last one.

Gaston peaked his head in. "You finally done with her? Not like you to work with an associate. Or were you up to something else?" He winked at her.

Elsa groaned. "I'm taken."

"Associates don't count."

She glared all the harder at him.

"Fine. I was just joking. I've definitely never slept with an associate."

"Don't. You'll be sued." It's not even worth it to try to argue the morality with him. "You're her boss."

He grinned. "So then you'd be fair game?"

"Still gay."

"Hypothetically."

She sipped from her cold, forgotten coffee. She was going to need a new cup. "Albert, did you come in here just to annoy me or is this just the prelude to something worse?"

His teeth shined audaciously as he sat down in front of her, his grin never faltering. "I just can't resist pushing your buttons."

"When's the last time you successfully found a woman's button?"

He paused at that, his smile fading for just a moment before it grew even larger. "Touche. That's a good one. Okay, so, I wanted to check on you. I know how hard that loss was hitting you. The Kuzcos were great clients – hopefully still are – it really sucks what happened."

She shook her head. "I should've done better." They'd already hashed out this conversation the previous day, but clearly Gaston felt it was worth a second go.

"How?" His voice was patient, kind, nothing at all like it had been a moment ago. "How could you have done better? I've talked to Mr. Kuzco – the old one. He's definitely upset, but he doesn't seem at all disappointed in you. You did an amazing job in court, better than anyone should have."

Elsa was already fighting back tears. Damn it. I thought I was doing better by now. "I got Pan to offer him five years. I could've talked him into taking it. I should have done more."

Gaston's eyes widened, as he stared at her, agape. "You what?"

Elsa stared back. "What do you mean?"

"You talked the assistant DA into offering five years for felony murder?"

"Well it would've been burglary, technically."

"Five years. For felony murder. That's a fifteen year minimum without any of the other charges that'd normally be stacked on top of it."

Elsa nodded. "Yep."

"And with no case you managed to get a plea deal for five years. It doesn't matter that he didn't take it, Kuzco was a fucking idiot. You managed to earn that deal. You may be an even better attorney than me."

On a normal day she would have agreed immediately, in as biting a tone as possible. Today, she couldn't. She only shrugged.

"Well, that brings me to my other point. You clearly need to get back on the horse, and I'm bored. I found us the perfect case. The client is even innocent this time, so it'll be way easier. Come on, do it with me. It'll be fun."

She shrugged again. "What's the case?"

"So you'll do it?" His face lit up in another massive grin.

"I haven't said that yet."

"You will. It'll be fun."

"Then tell me about the case so I can decide!"

He shook his head. "No. The funk you're in, I need a commitment first. If I tell you the facts, you'll just try to talk yourself out of it. I need a yes. Come on, play with me. It'll be great. Agnarrsen and Gaston, together at last, fighting side by side."

"If I say yes will you stop pitching our new buddy cop show?"

He considered this for a moment. "Yes."

Elsa groaned. "Then fine."

He clapped her on the shoulder, a bit more roughly than was strictly necessary. "You mean it? That's great! I promise you won't regret it.

She already regretted it. "Tell me about it."

"Well, it's another murder case." She regretted it more. "But guess who we're going up against? The new DA!" He didn't give her time to guess.

"Facilier?" That's what all the excitement is about?

"Yes!" His grin was growing somewhat intimidating, resembling a wolf's bared fangs more than a human smile. "I've wanted to face off against him for years. I never got the chance back when he was working at Badun & Badun. Now I can finally do it. I knew he wouldn't stick with that two-bit firm for long, but I never expected my chance to face him across the table would come in criminal work."

"Sounds more like you want to take him on the table than face him across it."

Gaston's eyes narrowed, but his grin finally vanished. "Some of us aren't satisfied only facing off against incompetent lawyers all the time."

He had her there. "Pan's getting better."

"You almost beat him when the entire case was in his favor."

"But I didn't."

He nodded his head. "Okay, maybe he's a little better. He was still bottom of your class for a reason."

Why do I tell him things? "What else can you tell me? Or do I just have to listen to you blather on about your man crush all day."

"I could go on about him for a while. Some of the cases he's won. I am so excited!" He met her gaze. I wonder if I could set them up. "Right. Sorry. Well, I don't know the judge, someone named Vasilovich." Elsa's ears perked up at that. Since when is he working in the city? "Other than that, just another dumb kid who was dating someone he clearly shouldn't have been and the police always want to go after the boyfriend."

"Vasilovich? Vlad Vasilovich?" The rest of the statement had just been white noise. She knew precisely what this would mean for her. Why did I even come into work today?

"I think so. Why? You know him?"

She gritted her teeth. "Yep. He was Anastasia's mentor."

"Anastasia?" He was clearly struggling to place the name. "Oh, right, your ex-girlfriend! The one with the shitty little lawfirm."

"That's the one."

"You're still friends, right?" Here we go.

Elsa wasn't even sure how to reply there. She shrugged. "We were. She's pissed at me again."

"Well whatever you did, just apologize."

Flinging herself from her chair, Elsa took a step toward the massive man. "I didn't do anything wrong. She's just being a crazy bitch, like she always is, because she always thinks she's the better person. Well, for once she's wrong. I'm not apologizing for shit."

He met her with a half-smile, holding his ground. "I didn't say you were wrong, I said to apologize. We need whatever help we can get. I guarantee Facilier will have more."

Grinding her teeth, she took another step until their eyes were even. He only had an inch or two on her and she was wearing heels. He faltered, taking half a step back. She almost growled as she turned away from him. "Fine," she spat. "I'll talk to her on Monday. Maybe she'll have cooled down enough by then."

Gaston had the brains to quit while he was ahead. It could wait a few days, the arraignment wasn't for a few more weeks. He held up his hands in surrender. "I promise it'll be fun," he offered meekly.

She rolled her eyes. "I guess I'll finally find out if you're half as good as they say you are."

His teeth flashed. "I'm better."

That weekend, Elsa was able to sleep in, enjoying her time with Tiana. She wasn't going to see her for most of a week, and they had decided to make the most of it. Elsa was spent, recovering in bed from another several hours of fun, while Tiana was in the kitchen working her magic. Her phone rang.

She stared at it, taking a few moments to process what it was and why she should care. Then she saw the picture of her sister. It was almost a decade out of date, but it was enough to stir her from her reverie. She grabbed it, a second before it would've gone to voicemail, and answered the call. "Morning, Anna."

Anna giggled. "It's like five there, isn't it?"

Elsa pulled the phone away from her face to check. Holy fuck. "Four-thirty," she countered.

She heard sighing from the other end of the phone. "I'm sorry I haven't called in a while."

Elsa shook her head, pulling the sheet around her. "It's fine. It's only been like two weeks. I wasn't worried." I'm so glad she's okay.

"Things have just been crazy here. Moana and I finally had our first official date. What's been going on with you?"

Elsa groaned. This was not what she wanted to discuss at the moment. "Eh, nothing to worry about. I've already dealt with all of it." Well most of it. I still have Anya to deal with on Monday. She pulled the sheet over her head. Why did I agree to that?

"Elsa, please." She was starting to sound worried. "You can tell me about it. What happened? I'm sorry I wasn't there for you."

I guess I had wanted to talk to her about it. Maybe I can finally stop feeling so guilty if even Anna thinks it's not my fault. "It was just this case I had. The kid had it coming, he just kept committing worse and worse crimes, but I kind of cared about him." She hesitated. She hated talking about this. Anna didn't need to see this part of her, she didn't need to be vulnerable. "I lost. It's fine."

"What?" It came out in almost a scream. She was shocked. I guess she still thinks of me as her invincible big sister. "How did you lose? I mean you're the best. Did the other guy pull some sort of trick? Did your client lie to you? What happened?"

It is nice to have her worried about me, I suppose. She shook her head. "No. Nothing like that. I just took an impossible case, convinced that I could win it anyway, and I couldn't. I didn't have a case to make, and my client wasn't willing to take the deal I got him."

"Well it sounds like it wasn't your fault, right?"

Didn't I have this conversation twice this week already? "I should've convinced him to make the deal. I fucked up. That's on me."

Silence came over the phone. Had she been too harsh? "Elsa, you can't blame yourself. You clearly did everything you could, or else it wouldn't be hurting you so much. You cared about him, whoever he was, and it shows. I'm sure the jury saw that too. It's likely why you were offered that plea." That's not how it works. "You didn't fail him. He failed you. I should've been there for you when you needed me, I'm sorry I wasn't." She could hear Anna choking back a sob. Great. Now I've made my little sister cry. "You're amazing, Elsa, and he was clearly lucky to have you as his lawyer. I doubt anyone else would have cared half as much. I love you." She coughed. "Please don't be so hard on yourself, okay? For me?"

Elsa sighed. How the hell can I say no to that? "I'll try."

She could hear her smiling. "I'm so glad. Did I miss anything else big? I'm on a roll for cheering you up. I can keep going."

Chuckling, Elsa replied, "It's fine. The other stuff is managable, this is the one that was really hurting. Thank you, Anna. You're a good sister."

"It's no problem." Her voice cracked. Elsa stared at the phone. Bad connection?

"Now will you tell me about your date, already? I can't go out anywhere without ending up in the tabloids. What's it like?" It's been years since I had a proper date. We should fix that.

The cheer returned to Anna's voice. "It was amazing. She's apparently a huge nerd. Nani had neglected to inform me of that part. We ended up marathoning Star Trek, and it's way better than it seemed when Kristoff would try to get me to watch it. We also went to a nice tapas place – it's not a sex thing – and I think I really like her. Nothing more than cuddling happened. Why am I telling you that? But I had a really great time and I can't wait to see her again. It's just a few more days! Oh, and she met Olaf! Well, met him again. They get along really well. She bought him some flying game for the Playstation you got him and he's been really enjoying it. I might end up with two pilots in the family." She paused, clearly realizing what she just said. "Not that we're anywhere near that yet! I'm gonna shut up now."

Elsa couldn't keep from giggling. She was feeling better than she had in weeks. Better than she'd felt since she'd last seen Anna. "Your secret's safe with me. It sounds like you're a really cute couple. I hope I get to meet her."

That stopped her. Anna seemed surprisingly lacking in a response for once.

"Anna? You there? Sorry, maybe it's too early to talk about her meeting your family. I wasn't trying to judge her or anything." I mean she already met Olaf. It seemed reasonable.

"No, it's okay, yeah, that'd be great, definitely, sounds cool. Just not sure when it could happen. I mean she doesn't live out here so it'd be hard to manage it with you visiting. We'll just have to wait and see. Maybe we could work it out eventually."

"Okay." Elsa wasn't sure what more to say. Is she worried I'd handle her like I did Kristoff? I was just being protective of my fifteen-year-old sister, and with good reason apparently. She didn't even love him. Wait, okay, I can see it now. I definitely still sound over-protective. "I promise I'll play nice."

"I know you will." She blew out a breath, causing a crackle in Elsa's ear. "I'm just scared that I'm rushing into things again. Don't worry about it. You know me."

A slight smile appeared on Elsa's face. Anna was being absolutely adorable about her new girlfriend. She was even more into her than Gaston was into Facilier. "I think you're doing a good job. You took things slow, you got to know each other first, and now you have real feelings for each other. You don't need to worry. You're not doing anything wrong."

"Thank you." Anna sounded like she wanted to cry. "Lilo, if Sven doesn't want to play don't make him. I'm sorry he bit you, but you bit him first. I have to go. Love you, Elsa."

The call ended and Elsa stared at her phone. After a moment's pause she started laughing. She felt bad about it, but she was just so glad she wasn't the one having to deal with that stuff. Then it hit her. Shit. I really don't want kids.