This story takes place in an ideal setting where Harvey and Donna are an official couple, and Mike and Rachel never left.
Enjoy!
Chapter 1.
Harvey woke to the low crackle of his record player, the muffled sound of his father's smooth music traveling through the spacious apartment. He opened his eyes slowly adjusting to the light, as warm glowing sunlight streamed through the large glass panelling that surrounded him. He stretched his arms out wards with a yawn, his hand automatically landing on the empty space in the bed beside him. He couldn't hide his disappointment that she wasn't there beside him, although his frown soon disappeared as the distinct smell of coffee and vanilla wafted through the air, pulling him from the array of sheets as he made his way, bare footed, towards the living area.
His mouth creased in a smile as he heard her voice growing more clear, she hummed effortlessly along with the music, her favourite record. He leaned against the threshold of the large bedroom door, giving him a clear view of the kitchen, a clear view of her.
Donna's hips swayed lazily to the murmur of the music, causing the white shirt she wore, his shirt, to move up and down around her legs teasingly. Her disheveled locks of golden red cascaded down her back, like dancing flames of a fire, the absence of make up gave him a clear view of very constellation of freckles sprinkled across her face and body, her porcelain complexion seemed to glow in the morning sunlight. His breath caught in his throat, suddenly overwhelmed by a feeling of contentment to powerful to put into words.
This was his favourite version of Donna. No finery, no make up, no diamonds, no heels. Just her, as she was, simple beauty.
He smiled when she looked up, finally noticing his presence, "Good morning Gorgeous." He whispered, noting the way her eyes shone at the passing complement.
"Good morning Handsome." She replied with a grin, before returning her attention back to the task at hand, stirring the two mugs of coffee on the counter top.
He moved towards her, rounding the island and placing his warm hands on her hips. He noticed the way her cheeks rose in a smile as he leaned down from behind, placing a soft kiss on jaw.
"You should wear that shirt more often, it looks better on you then it does on me." He breathed into her ear, sweeping some stray strands of golden hair aside as he went.
She giggled, a lighthearted, carefree sound that echoed throughout the apartment, "I beg to differ." She answered with a wink, handing him his freshly brewed mug.
So much had changed in the short year they had been together. They had kept their relationship a secret at work, with the exception of Mike, Rachel and eventually Louis. However after a couple of months, and after Donna moved in with him, it became more open, they arrived everyday together, his hand either grasped in hers or placed lovingly on the small of her back. They gave each other quick affectionate pecks on the cheek or lips in passing, and of course, their evening rendezvous in one another's office, which usually consisted of the two wrapped up in each other's arms, as they worked their way through a mountain of paper work.
It was as if their newfound relationship had had a positive knock on effect on every other aspect of their lives. The firm had never seen better days, Specter Litt had returned to its rightful place as the top law firm in the state. Although it was no secret that Donna and Harvey had always made a great team, their synchronicity had somehow increased as a result of their romance, making them the driving force behind the success of the firm.
So much so, that they had recently been asked to interview for a segment in 'The New York Times", which highlighted the state's top well-known power couples. They had been some what surprised and incredibly flattered to receive the request, but however much they tried to hide their excitement from each other, they just couldn't help but revel in the rewards of their success.
"Look," Donna said, failing to disguise the excitement in her voice, she reached across the counter, grabbing the open news paper, "Meet New York City's alpha pair, ranking in at the top of our list, this dynamic duo are seemingly unstoppable, they've over come every obstacle in the book, proving that, contrary to popular opinion, you really can have it all, if you do it together."
He beamed down at her as she read, "I wonder who that could be." He teased, moving around to stand beside her, giving him a better view of the article, admiring the picture that was attached along with the print.
"Yeah I wonder," she said jokingly, standing up on the tips of her toes to plant a kiss on his cheek, "they sound like MrMrs Incredible."
Perfection. That was the only way he could begin to describe the current state of his life. Never had everything seemed so inexplicably amazing. And it was all down to her.
As they made their way to through the lobby of the firm, receiving smiles and congratulations from passers-by who had clearly read the article, it seemed to both as though everything was finally falling into place, after years of drama and suffering, they could finally be happy.
So you can imagine Harvey's dismay when, within half an hour of arriving at his desk, he had received numerous phone calls from each of his top clients, complaining of outrageous impending lawsuits.
He slammed the phone down on the receiver for the umpteenth time that morning, a frustrated sigh falling from his lips.
"Looks like I'll be out all day." He grumbled.
"Oh," came Donna's voice through the intercom, which she'd had installed in both their offices, "Anything I can help with?"
"No it's ok," he said smiling softly to himself at the mere sound of her voice, "I can handle it, you've got enough on your plate watching over the associates with Louis in Boston until next week."
"Okay," she replied, "love you."
His mood lifted dramatically at her response,"Love you too."
Harvey stood stiffly in the elevator as it climbed its way to the fiftieth floor at seven pm that evening. He was deflated to say the least. Five of his top clients were being sued, on the basis of what appeared to be, for the most part, fabricated accusations. The day had quickly taken a turn for the worse yet again when, while waiting at a food stall after a client meeting, he had been ambushed by a gaggle of journalists, all firing questions at him about the impending lawsuits and whether he thought this would taint his new reputation.
He felt his phone buzz in his pocket, giving off the familiar alert indicating a new email. He rolled his eyes as he removed the device from the inside of his suit jacket, glancing down at the screen. He frowned as he read the notification, 'Blocked address'. Harvey opened the email, his curiosity peeked as he clicked the icon:
Dear Mr Specter,
I hope you enjoyed your day of misfortune, and I'm sure you've spent the majority of it cursing your luck, however it is not chance you have to blame for clients' affliction, but me.
Your days at the top are numbered, and I regret to inform you that this is just the beginning.
A word of warning; Your firm has already taken a hit, the next blow will be a lot more personal.
Oh, congratulations on being named Power Couple of the Year, you and Red have never looked better.
Harvey stared at his phone in disbelief.
A threat?
A million thoughts raced through his mind, who sent this? Why? What does this mean?
The elevator pinged signalling his arrival on the fiftieth floor, almost as if a switch had been flicked within him, Harvey launched into action. Luckily, he ran straight into Mike.
"Hey Harvey, how did it go-"
"Mike I need your help, is Benjamin still here?" Harvey asked urgently.
"Yeah I thinks so- but Harvey I'm just on my way out Rachel and I-"
"Mike, whatever it is it'll have to wait, this is important." Harvey interrupted.
Mike's face creased with confusion, before softening, giving Harvey a nod, "Okay then let's go find Benjamin." He'd learned years ago that when Harvey said it was important, then nothing else could matter, "but you better have a damn good excuse."
"Okay, what?" Mike asked in disbelief as they approached Benjamin's office, "someone's threatening you? Who does this guy think he is Michael Corleone?"
"I know, it sounds insane but-" as much as he hated to admit it, paranoia was starting to eat him up, "I'm not taking any chances, whoever they are they said they were gonna start getting personal… and I'm just worried-"
"That whoever it is they'll try and hurt somebody?" Asked Mike, finishing the sentence as Harvey's voice trailed off.
"I know it's unlikely, but again, I'm not taking any chances."
Benjamin looked up from his computer as both men knocked before entering his office, "Michael, Harvey, do you need something?" He asked, in his usual abrupt but polite manner.
"Harvey's been sent a strange email from a blocked address, do you think you could trace it?" Mike asked, gesturing to Harvey.
"Yeah, should be easy enough." He said reaching out a hand for Harvey's iPhone.
"Thanks Benjamin," said Harvey, handing him the unlocked device,"oh, and can you guys do me a favour and not mention this to Donna yet?" He added.
"Why?" They asked in unison, both more than a little daunted at the prospect of lying to All-Knowing Donna Paulsen.
"It's just – who ever it is, they mentioned her in the email and I just don't want her to worry, especially if it turns out to be nothing." He replied, scratching the back of his neck with guilt at the thought of hiding something from her. Both men nodded, "Leave it with me, shouldn't take more then fifteen, twenty minutes tops," said Benjamin, Plugging the phone into his laptop, "I'll come by your office when I'm finished."
As Harvey and Mike made their way down the corridor towards the Managing Partner's office, they were surprised to meet a rather flustered looking Donna, rushing out of her own office.
"Donna?" Mike called, catching her attention.
"Is everything okay?" Asked Harvey his voice laced with concern, as he grabbed her hand.
"We have a problem." She said solemnly.
"What is it?" They answered in unison.
"I think somebody's trying to poach our associates."
All three sat on the leather sofa of Harvey's office, a glass of scotch in their hands as Donna explained the dilemma.
"Three of our best associates handed in notice this evening," she sighed, "I haven't looked into it properly yet but I don't know, something just didn't seem right, all three were acting really suspicious."
Harvey shut his eyes in frustration, shit, this day really couldn't get any worse, the warm, happy atmosphere of their apartment that morning was beginning to feel more and more like a distant memory. And to make matters worse, if Donna's suspicions were correct, which they always are, that only strengthens his fear that the email he'd received earlier was no empty threat.
"So let me get this straight," said Mike, his expression growing gradually more strained, "in the space of a day, Harvey's top clients get targeted with bullshit lawsuits, our associates are mysteriously handing in their notice and Harvey receives a threa-" he stopped short, catching Harvey's eye and suddenly remembering his earlier promise.
"Harvey received a what?" Questioned Donna, looking frantically between the two lawyers.
Harvey mentally cursed Mike, "Nothing I-"
Just then Benjamin walked in, carrying his open laptop and Harvey's phone, his eyes focused on the screen, "I tried everything," he said, sounding exasperated, "but I can't seem to – Oh, Donna I-" Benjamin looked alarmed, glancing from Mike to Harvey for help.
"Why does Benjamin have your phone?" Donna asked, glaring at Harvey, "what are you not telling me?"
"It's not a big deal it's just-"
"Harvey" she said, in the tone of voice that told him he'd already lost.
He sighed, "Okay."
Harvey, Mike and Benjamin explained the current situation, showing Donna the email Harvey had received less then an hour ago. Her eyes narrowed as she read the contents, but other then that, Harvey was surprised by how seemingly unfazed she was by the threat, and more pressingly, the mention of her.
"So what now?" Asked Donna, once she had been brought up to speed.
"Unfortunately, I can't trace the address, I've tried everything, but every time I just meet a dead end," sighed Benjamin, clearly disappointed in himself, "whoever this is, they haven't left a single trace."
Donna, Harvey and Mike, made the reluctant decision to pull an all-nighter, in the hopes of gathering as much information as they could on potential suspects. However, four and half hours, six cups of coffee and numerous boxes of Thai food later, and they seemed to have hit a wall.
"Let's run through what we know once more."said Harvey, it was approaching midnight, the firm was deserted, save for the three. Harvey sat perched on the side of his desk, his suit jacket and tie removed, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Mike's attire resembled Harvey's, he was sitting on the large window sill in the far corner of the office, his head leaning back against the glass.
Donna was lying flat on her stomach, stretched out on the leather sofa, her stilettos kicked off, her chin resting on her hand as she read through some files.
"So far, we know that each impending lawsuit on your clients is being handled by a different firm, we're still trying to figure out what could link them." Donna replied, trying to disguise her exasperation.
"It's possible the associates are using the same loop hole that Katrina did to get around their non-compete, if so, there's a very good chance more of the associates will jump ship." Mike sighed.
"I still can't understand why they'd want to leave Specter Litt?" Questioned Donna, "we're at the top of our game, this is the best law firm in the city."
"They clearly got a good offer." Replied Mike, sounding just as frustrated as Donna, "that's all we've got so far Harvey."
"So nothing." Harvey grumbled, "nearly five hours and we've got nothing."
Donna sat up, giving him a sympathetic look, "we'll find something," she soothed, slipping on her heels and gliding over to him, "its us, we always pull through these things in the end." She smiled, placing a manicured hand on his shoulder, he immediately felt himself relax at her reassurance.
"She's right," chimed Mike, smiling at his friends, "nothing gets past The Dream Team."
"I'm gonna go grab a couple more folders from the file room," said Donna, "why don't you two make a list of all the possible suspects who could be behind this, any of our past enemies from over the years."
"God knows there's enough of them." Laughed Mike.
"Good idea." said Harvey giving her a kiss on the cheek, before she turned on her heel, strutting off in the direction of the file room.
Mike and Harvey threw around ideas for who this mysterious revenge seeker could be, Malik, Hardman, possibly one of the original named partners; Gordon, Schmidt or Van Dyke? None seemed plausible.
"What about Tanner?" Harvey wondering aloud, although this Evil villain approach didn't feel much like Tanner's style, he generally preferred to be more direct, a slap in the face rather than a knife in the back.
"Couldn't be," said Mike, shaking his head, "I heard he moved to London temporarily, as far as I know he's not back until the New Year."
Harvey nodded, scratching his jaw, the wheels of his brain turning as he analysed all options. Nothing seemed to fit, every move made was calculated and executed carefully, whoever it is, they must be well connected.
"I'm gonna go make us some more coffee." Offered Mike, sliding off the window ledge, "I'll be back in two minutes."
Mike yawned as he opened the cupboards of the associate's kitchen, removing the necessary ingredients for a fresh brew. The coffee machine hissed and whistled as the glorious brown liquid swirled into the mug, the smell of caffeine alone was enough to revitalise his senses. He reached up for another mug, when suddenly, an alarmed shout pierced the silence of the firm, followed by an enormous clatter and the unmistakable slamming of a door.
Mike sprinted in the direction of the commotion, he had a hunch it had come from the file room, so he sped through the bullpen, and headed for the main door of the file room. Catching his breath, he gripped the handle, swinging the door open and stepping just inside.
"Donna are you okay-"
Mike gasped, stopping dead in his tracks. Momentarily stunned by the scene before him.
"Oh my god."
Thanks for reading, let me know what you think! Any thoughts or constructive criticisms are welcomed!