A/N: So, This has been bouncing around in my head in various forms since last week's episode., but I didn't want to start on it until the end of the season so I'd know what all the twists and turns would be. At the end of Rules of the Game I couldn't help but think 'we haven't seen the last of Cameron Dennis,' and it wasn't dealt with directly any more in this last episode. So here we go. I don't own Suits.
Pay the Price
Takada Saiko
One.
Harvey Specter had spent plenty of nights without sleep while at Harvard Law. Plenty of things had been more important back then, and it was all for the better as he spent even more all-nighters hunched over his desk as a rookie at the DA's office. He hadn't let up when he transferred into Pearson-Hardman. In fact, it had only been in the few years that he had toned down the work-related all-nighters.
It was early on Friday morning. The sun had been coming up as Harvey had ridden the private elevator up to his condo and fallen face-first into his pillows. He hadn't slept well in weeks, and he hadn't slept more than a handful of hours the past three nights put together. His face hurt where Clifford had taken out his anger on him – he had asked for it, after all – and his body hurt from the strain and the stress that this trial had put on him. He'd won. He always won, and it had been the victory that was long overdue for a certain young man that had spent a dozen years behind bars for someone else's crime. That didn't mean his work was done though.
Right now, though, he needed sleep.
Harvey groaned and turned over in his bed, trying to wiggle out of his suit jacket and kicking off his shoes. The clothing articles flew in separate directions and he frowned towards his phone that had decided to break the silence the moment is tired fingers began trying to unknot his tie so that it wouldn't hang him in his sleep. He knew the ringtone. It was Jessica's personal one, playing loudly and obnoxiously. He'd called her the night before when they'd got the evidence that would release Clifford Danner from prison and she'd told him to take the day off. He deserved it. So what the hell was she doing now?
It was rare that he ignored a phone call from his boss, especially if it was made from her own phone. Jessica didn't bother him outside of work without reason, but she had given him the day off and Harvey just couldn't find it in himself to do much more than glance in the obnoxiously singing devices' direction. Slowly the ringtone faded away and formed up part of his dream, dancing in and out of the colors, flowing through the nightmares that followed, and finally faded away when utter darkness was all that he was left with.
Mike's first intention after he and Harvey parted ways was to go home in hopes of clearing things up with his childhood best friend. He'd started off that way, at first, but somehow had given Ray the address to a coffee shop down the street rather than his own apartment building. It was early, he was tired, and he needed a pick-me-up before dealing with the chaos that was sure to rain down on him in just a short while.
The young associate sat down after ordering his coffee, the cooling air of early autumn allowing him to be somewhat comfortable as he shed his jacket and lounged back in the chair. The caffeine seemed to have little effect right away, so he settled in for a short wait with his own thoughts for company.
Harvey had seemed please, albeit exhausted, with the outcome of the trial. Mike had never seen him like this. Granted, he hadn't known the elder man all that long, relatively, but he knew that the lawyer rarely lost his cool. There had been no barriers, no facades once they had slipped into the back of Ray's car and he'd started off towards Harvey's condo first. Jessica had given the senior partner the day off, and he had in turn given Mike the same courtesy, and it seemed that the elder man had taken that to its furthest as soon as they were out of the world's view. He had chatted with Ray, of course, but no musical ritual had been passed between them as they drove.
Mike had watched Harvey slide out of the car with a small wave behind him, telling the younger man to stay out of trouble and to stay away from Trevor. He'd been useful this once, but he expected it was a fluke.
Now he sat alone, wondering if Harvey had known that Trevor was waiting at his apartment and that there was bound to be an interesting conversation in his future. Somewhere in his idealistic mind he'd formed up a scenario that included Trevor forgiving him for any wrongdoings he might have done. It was the only possible outcome after years of friendship and the perfect win that they had just succeeded with in the trial. After all, dating your best friend's ex-girlfriend could not nearly line up to the same best friend setting you up on a drug bust, right?
Finally Mike picked himself up out of the chair, the scraping of metal against concrete causing his ears to hurt. His walk to his apartment could only be described as a trudge in that general direction, legs seeming to be made of lead, even with the caffeine coursing through his veins.
He found his apartment empty. There was no sign of Trevor or even that he'd been there at all in the recent hours. His things were gone, but no note was left, and Mike massaged the bridge of his nose. It was Friday morning. Not Saturday, not even Sunday that looked onto that dreaded day of Monday. No, it was Friday and most of the city was at work. Just because he and Harvey had the day off didn't mean that whatever law firm Trevor had said he'd gotten a job at was giving him the day off.
With that understanding Mike fell back onto his couch, sleep catching hold of him before he even fully made contact.
The sun was setting in the sky by the time that Harvey woke to the sound of a fist pounding against his front door. He groaned and swore that if Mike had gone and gotten himself drunk again he was going to kill him and then fire him. In that order.
Slowly the lawyer dragged himself from the bed, blinking dark eyes against the shadows of the room. He ached all over as if he'd been up for days. Wait, he had. He frowned again as he began limping stiffly towards the door, rubbing his eyes as he pulled it open.
Donna stood in the hallway, hair pulled halfway up and she looked as if she'd dressed to go out on the town. He thought he might have been dreaming with her pretty dark eyes looking out at him from behind fluttering eyelashes and a dress that left only the right things to the imagination. She flashed him a wide grin that faded when she took in his half-worn and all-rumpled suit that she knew was from the day before. "You're not ready," she pouted.
He blinked at her dumbly, feeling sluggish and at a loss. "What… time is it?" he asked at last, eyes finally coming to rest on the bag in her left hand that looked to hold a campaign bottle, corkscrew already twisted into it and ready to be popped open. He groaned. "Damn it."
"Yeah," she agreed, tilting her head to the side with an expression the screamed disappointment. "How could you forget the second half of the ritual? What good is an unopened bottle of campaign with a corkscrew if it remains unopened after the victory?"
"We were supposed to go out…"
"To the Harvard Club…. Wow. You really haven't slept much lately, have you?"
"Not lately, no." He paused, as if he expected her to say that it was okay if they put the end of the ritual off until the next evening. It wasn't something they had never done before, but she hated it every time that he asked. Mostly because he'd found himself a pretty thing that wanted to go for a ride in one of the flashy sport cars from Gotham Car Club. This time, though, it appeared that Donna was not going to budge. She stood expectantly in his hallway, waiting, until he pulled the door the rest of the way open and gave her room to enter. "It'll be a few minutes," he warned.
"I can wait."
Harvey smiled and shook his head, watching her out of the corner of his eye as she made herself at home looking through his record collection. "We could always just stay in here."
"Listen, Harvey, I know that you have as much alcohol stored in your cabinets as the Club does in its own, but tradition is tradition. You didn't get the car, did you?" She paused, watching towards the bathroom where her boss had disappeared to in order to get ready. "Harvey?"
"No. I've been sleeping."
"But it was the Maserati!" she groaned dramatically, rolling her eyes.
"Next time."
"That's what you said last time when you got the Tesla."
"It was the Tesla," Harvey countered, poking his head around the corner and shooting her a pointed look.
"It's a Maserati."
He grinned and chuckled, ducking back into the bathroom and Donna shook her head as the shower came on. She sank back onto his couch, glancing around the apartment. It hadn't changed much since he'd bought it nearly eight years before. He'd moved the furniture around a few times – mostly at her suggestion – and he'd finally decided to keep a few photographs around. Harvey had always had nice taste in artwork, but the person touch of photography had been something Donna thought he needed. No matter how many women came and went in his life, there were only two that could boast that they had framed pictures of themselves with the best closer in New York City and that those framed pictures were in his living room for anyone to see. The redhead had joked one time that the only reason that he didn't keep her photo in his bedroom was so that he didn't feel judged on his performance.
The water clicked off and steam poured out into the bedroom, just visible from where Donna sat. She rolled her eyes as her boss walked out in nothing but a towel, shooting her a glare that dared her to comment while in his home. She shrugged her shoulders and curled herself up, unable to keep the recent conversation that she had had with Rachel from her thoughts.
Harvey Specter was a good looking man. She'd known it for years, as had every other straight woman that laid eyes on him. He dressed well, he was intelligent, successful, handsome, athletic, and could be a gentleman when he so chose. She found few faults with him in the end, and as he pointedly ignored her and moved around his place in only the bath towel, it took all of Donna's theatre training to keep the blood from rushing to her cheeks at the thoughts that crossed her mind. "Damn," she said instead, "you take longer than I do to get ready."
Harvey flashed her his trademark grin, nearly causing her to melt where she sat. There were times – at work, after hours, it really didn't matter – that his eyes caught hers just right and at just the wrong time and she knew if he chose that moment to ask then all of her resolve would wash away. Damn the consequences, she wouldn't be able to stop herself.
"Ready?"
When had he slipped back into his room? It was as if she'd fallen asleep, because she wasn't sure when he'd dressed, slicked back his hair, or anything, but no he stood in all of his usually glory and held a hand out to help her up.
"I thought you forgot the car."
"I did, but I texted Ray and he said he doesn't mind."
"He'd say that even if he did."
Harvey paused. "You think?"
"I know. It's Friday night."
"He said he wasn't busy."
"That man deserves a bonus."
The lawyer grinned and his secretary looped her arm through his ready one. They looked quite the eloquent pair as they left his condo with their prepared bottle of champagne and years of tradition at their heels.
Mike's phone buzzing somewhere beneath him woke him. It was night and it looked as if the sun had just set. He groaned loudly as he reached back and found Jenny's picture scrawled across the screen. "Hey," he answered sleepily.
"Mike? Where the hell have you been, I've been trying to get a hold of you all day," Jenny's frantic voice echoed in his ear.
"I've been at home. Sleeping. Harvey and I got the day off because we won that big case that we thought we were going to lose. Well, I thought we might. I don't think Harvey will ever say he's lost. Ever."
"Shut up," she hissed, catching him off guard. "Trevor came by my work today."
Mike sat up suddenly. "What?"
"Did you tell him about us?"
"Not yet. I've been trying to find him to talk to him. He disappeared."
"Well, he talked to your boss."
"To Harvey?"
"To a lady named Jessica Pearson."
The world slammed to a stop and Mike felt like he might be sick. How had Trevor gotten passed the security downstairs? He'd just waltzed up and spoken to Jessica? Why? "What did he say?" he finally managed, his voice sounding small in his own ears.
"He told her everything."
The cork popped out and champagne spilled out over the edges, the bartender at the Harvard Club laughing and shaking his head at the two and an old, old tradition. Donna laughed openly as Harvey poured her a glass and they held them up.
"To all the good times we've had," he toasted.
"And to all the good times yet to come," she answered and the glasses clinked together and they grinned.
"Good trial, Harvey?" the barkeep asked.
"The best yet," the lawyer answered.
"Do you think there are more like that?" Donna asked quietly, regaining her boss' full attention.
Harvey frowned, thinking. "I hope not, but that doesn't mean that there aren't. I'm still looking, but I couldn't spread myself over all of those cases at once. It doesn't do them any good that way."
"What about your current cases for the firm?"
"What about them?"
"You can't just go out on a vendetta against Cameron, no matter how much I hate the bastard. You have a job to do at Pearson-Hardman."
"I know," he sighed, sipping on his drink. "I just… wish I'd known then what I do now."
Donna reached a hand out and touched his. "Cameron Dennis is the one that destroyed those people's lives, not you. You're a good man, Harvey. Don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise."
Harvey felt his breath catch and he turned his hand over, lightly holding onto hers. They sat there for a moment, hands clutched, until his cell started buzzing in his pocket. He sighed and she shook her head and motioned for him to go ahead.
"Harvey Specter," he acknowledged without looking.
"Where the hell have you been?" Jessica's irate voice bore into his ear.
"You gave me the day off. I've been sleeping. Now I'm celebrating. You want to join?"
"No I don't want to join," she snapped.
"Listen, I don't know what you heard, but I won the case. I did what you told me to do. What's the mater?"
"What was the matter and what is the matter are separate. Someone ransacked my office."
Harvey sat up straight, eyes wide. "Who?"
"I don't know."
"How'd they get passed security?"
"I don't know."
"Any idea what they were after?"
"I have a theory. Are you with Donna?"
Dark eyes glanced over at the pretty redhead. "Yes."
"Bring her with you. I need to speak to you both in private."
Harvey hung up the phone and Donna's look was slightly stunned. "What's going on?"
"Someone ransacked Jessica's office. Come on." He pulled a couple bills out to pay and waved his apologies to the barkeep as the started for the door, calling Ray on the way.
TBC
A/N: I'm absolutely addicted to reviews. Also, let me know if there are any typos. I'm in a hurry today and wanted to get it posted before I left my apartment.