Hi there,
So this is a new story. I recently joined the Suits fandom, and I have no idea why I didn't do that before. Anyway, my first action when I join a new fandom is generally to write fanfic for it. This is my attempt at a Suits one. My writing's a bit dodgy since I haven't really written in the past year or so, but hopefully it'll get better as I go along. If you have any feedback to help me improve along the way, don't hesitate to let me know through review or personal message.
- Ashley.

Summary: Harvey's younger, genius cousin, Julia, is recruited to work at Pearson Hardman as Louis' new associate. Quickly making a name for herself as a lawyer with a very high potential, everything seems to be going well for Julia, who also happens to be the youngest lawyer in the US. Until, that is, a secretary from her old firm, Reichs and Callaway, shows up in Harvey's office, serving Arthur Reichs with a sexual harassment lawsuit. When the real reason that Julia left Reichs and Callaway comes to Harvey's attention, he becomes more ruthless than he's ever been.

Chapter One

Jessica Pearson stood in her office, looking between the two newest Senior Partners at Pearson Hardman. The two men before her were polar opposites. Harvey Specter leant, relaxed, against the couch, arms crossed as he waited for the conversation to start. Louis Litt, on the other hand, looking as though he had better things to do, tapped his hand impatiently on the foot that was brought up over his knee. He looked around the office impatiently.

"Can you please tell us why we're here before the baby wets the bed?" Harvey asked.

Jessica glared at him. "I need to speak to both of you. You're here only so Louis feels better after the events of yesterday."

"Oh, you mean how Daniel Hardman was voted out of firm because he planted evidence and then asked every Senior Partner to pay a tenth of a grand so I wouldn't get disbarred for it?"

"Do I need to remind you that you came into the office under the influence of drugs, and then later admitted it?"

"You don't need to remind me. Do I need to remind you that if I hadn't come in, Daniel Hardman would still be here, and he'd be in charge? So…"

"Either way, you broke the drug policy. As punishment –"

"If you take away my Senior Partnership after I saved your ass –"

"Calm down, Harvey. Your partnership is safe. But, as punishment, you have to take on thirty pro-bonos. And no pawning them off on Mike. Or any other associate either."

"I wouldn't pawn them off on any other associate either, they wouldn't win."

"You haven't even got them yet!"

"Yeah, but I know that nobody apart from Mike would win them. And besides, Mike's on personal leave."

"You're going to do thirty pro-bonos in a week?" Louis asked.

"I could. I used to do that for breakfast. In a day."

"Okay, can we not go into this, please? Louis, Harvey has his punishment, do you agree with it or not?"

"Fifty pro-bonos," Louis said.

"Agreed," Jessica said. "Harvey, now you know not to break the drug policy."

"What about Mike?" Louis asked. "Isn't he going to get punished?"

"Did he break the drug test policy?"

"Well –"

"Do you have a written or verbal confession or a positive test result?"

"Uh… Not exactly," Louis said.

"Then he's not in breach of the drug policy, and he's not going to be punished," Jessica smiled. "Now, Louis, as for why you're here: as you're aware, Senior Partners get their own associate. You have the option to choose one of the associates you're already in charge of, or you can hire a new one. What would you like to do?"

Louis paused, glancing sideways at Harvey. The tapping on his shoe stopped, and he nodded. "I'd like to hire a new associate, if that's okay."

"Of course it is. I'll line up some interviews for you for Friday."

Julia sat patiently in the foyer of the conference room at the Chilton Hotel in Manhattan. The wallpaper unnerved her. The flowers at every entranceway overwhelmed her. But she pushed all of that to the back of her mind. She needed to ace this interview. She needed an associate job soon because she was failing to survive on her full time job at the grocery store.

"Julia," the lawyer's secretary called out. She was a short, slim woman who wore high heels in an attempt to appear taller, rather than because they looked good. She had short, greying hair and a pinched face, with glasses hanging around her neck.

Julia stood up from her seat amongst the young men around her, who, she realised, were all actually older than her, and walked over to the secretary.

"Louis is ready to see you now," she said. Julia nodded and met Louis in the conference room. He led her over to the table and motioned for her to sit in the seat next to the head of the table. He sat at the head, and he picked up her resume.

"Julia Dunham," he said. "Graduated top of your class at Harvard Law in 2010. Do you know Mitchell Samberg?"

"I don't see how that's relevant."

"It's not. He's my cousin, I was wondering if you knew him."

"Yes, I do," she said.

"Julia, it says here that you, in all, skipped four years of school. Why don't you tell me a little about that?"

She frowned slightly. "I'm gifted," she said. "I uh, wouldn't say genius like most of the people I meet, but I was moved up two years in elementary school. I overloaded units as an undergraduate so I could graduate a year early, and then I overloaded at law school as well."

"Which makes you the youngest lawyer in American history."

"I have a certificate from the Guiness World Records."

"And you worked for Reichs and Callaway. They're only the best law firm in the country. Why did you quit?"

"My mother has some quite severe mental problems. She deteriorated about nine months ago, and I decided to take some time off to take care of her. She's in full time care now, but Reichs and Callaway is too far away from her, and I'd like to work closer so I can see her more often."

She was impressed with the flawless nature with which she told the half-truth. Louis nodded and looked over her letter and resume a few more times. "Julia, I'm not going to lie to you; your application is very impressive. But what I need to understand is why you think I should believe your bullshit."

"I'm sorry?" she asked. "What bullshit?"

"First in your class at Harvard in 2010? Please. You haven't been to any Harvard Club functions, and I know for a fact that you didn't get top of the class. I work with one Michael Ross, and he tells me that he got top of the class."

"Oh, the genius kid," Julia nodded. "Yeah, looks like he should still be in high school." She realised briefly that she didn't exactly look like she was a lawyer yet either. "We got equal first in the class, it just sounds less impressive if you tell people that. I have all my transcripts with me if you don't believe me. And I haven't been to any Harvard Club functions because I've been looking after my mother."

He just smiled. "I'd like to hire you. Your application astounded me, and honestly, you look like the best option. I mean, have you seen the crop of Harvard graduates out there? They're getting less lawyer looking every year."

"You're offering me a job, right now?"

"Yes," Louis said. "It would be my honour to have you as my associate."

She nodded. "Well in that case, I will accept."

"Great," Louis beamed. "Can you start on Tuesday?"

Jessica knocked on the door to Harvey's office, which he'd reclaimed as soon as Daniel Hardman had been kicked out of the firm. He motioned for her to come in and leaned back in his chair.

"What can I do for you, Miss Pearson?" he asked.

"Louis has hired a new associate," she said. "Now that he's made a decision, I thought I'd take this opportunity to ask you a favour."

"And what might that be?" he asked.

"Don't try and influence her," she said. "She sounds like a smart girl, but she's young, and as such, she's impressionable. I don't want you to pit her against Louis. If that's what she ends up doing, let it be of her own accord."

"Okay," Harvey said. "What's her name so I can be sure to leave her alone?"

"Julia Dunham."

"Woah, what? Julia is Louis' associate?"

"You know her?" Jessica asked.

"That's a bit of an understatement?"

"Did you sleep with her once?" For once Jessica didn't seem annoyed with his bachelor ways.

"Oh, I'm going to pretend I did not overhear that," Donna said from the door. "Julia – oh god. Trust me, Jessica, they've never slept together."

"Julia Dunham is my cousin," Harvey told her. "She graduated top of her year at Harvard and got a job at Reichs and Callaway. Why she's demoting herself to here, I have no idea."

"You can ask her yourself," Donna said. "She's on the phone for you. Well, either of us really, but seeing as how you're the one who started it, you can be the one to tell her about Ross."

"How does she know about Ross?" Jessica asked.

"Louis mentioned him to her at her interview."

"You tell her about Ross –"

"She's going to find out anyway," Harvey said. "They were in the same year at Harvard Law. According to Mike's transcript, anyway. Don't worry, she'll keep her mouth shut."

"She better. But I still need you to do me that favour."

"Count on it," Harvey grinned as she left his office. "What line is she on?"

"Four."

"Thank you, Donna."