Title: till the lights go out
Author: emmajane14
Rating: PG-13
Fandom/Pairing: Suits, Harvey/Mike
Warnings: MAJOR S2 SPOILERS
Summary: Mike ends up talking to Jessica in Harvey's office late into the night.
Mike ends up talking to Jessica in Harvey's office late into the night. She's sharp and intimidating despite the late hour and it takes every brain cell in Mike's head to stay on his game. This is for his career. This is for his life.
And when she finally decides that he's had enough she stands, smoothing nonexistent wrinkles from her red dress.
"Just one last thing Mike?"
It's phrased as question which is almost funny. A question would imply that he has the option to say no.
"Yes?"
"Just explain to me this one last thing. Why is Harvey going out on a limb for you?" Her face is virtually expressionless and Mike had thought that they had certainly covered this by now.
"I told you, when he was holding the interviews—"
She cuts him off with a small smile and Mike thinks it's the kind of smile a shark would give.
"No, no, no. I understand why he hired you. I understand why he's kept you. What I don't understand is why he's ready to throw away everything for you."
Mike meets her eyes quickly but can't seem to understand the words coming out of her mouth.
"What? Harvey's just looking out for himself. He doesn't want all the work that would fall on him if I…left"
Jessica laughs at him. It's quick and it sounds a little scary, but she laughs nonetheless.
"For such a brilliant kid, Harvey seems to have done an excellent job in keeping you in the dark. He may have been smart enough to know I need him, but he showed his hand. And it seems he's willing to do whatever necessary to keep you. Now how did you manage that?"
But Jessica doesn't wait around for an answer and Mike isn't sure he'd have one to give anyway. Mike can hear the soft rustle of her heels on the carpet as she leaves him alone in Harvey's office, full of questions.
Mike doesn't realize what time it is until he's already knocking on the door to Harvey's apartment. And if he wasn't five minutes away from a full-blown panic attack, he might actually care that it's the middle of the night.
Instead of being ignored or yelled at, the door is answered by a very tired and stressed looking Harvey who suddenly seems to perk up to when he notices Mike breathing heavily.
The room is a little too warm and Mike is too tired for this and Harvey's going to kill him and oh god…Harvey, and Jessica, and his job…oh fuck.
Mike's vision is getting a little fuzzy and Harvey's cheekbones seem to be blurring into his nose and it's so warm and he's shaking so much and oh...
When Mike wakes up on Harvey's couch, there's already sun coming in the windows. He's late. It doesn't even matter what time it is, because he's already late.
And then the events of the previous night coming flying back at Mike full force and there's a petrifying forty-eight seconds where he forgets to breathe.
But then he hears Harvey approaching the back of the couch and air spills into his lungs.
"Mike?"
"Fuck, I'm sorry. About last night…and everything…umm…dammit, I know I'm late but if I go straight to the office I can—"
"Mike." It's more demanding this time and Mike really doesn't want to look at Harvey. Harvey put his ass on the line for Mike apparently and for that he should deserve thanks, not Mike have a panic attack on his couch in the middle of the night. That's just downright embarrassing.
"Mike." He meets Harvey's eyes this time because he's always had some problems defying Harvey.
"Umm…" And if that isn't the most incoherent thing he's ever said, he doesn't know what is.
"Go back to sleep."
"Guhh?" Oh god, did he forget how to speak English now too? "What?" Now that's better.
"After the last few days, I think we've both earned a day off."
"Jessica…?"
"Can deal with it." And if there's a sharp tone of bitterness in Harvey's voice, Mike certainly isn't going to point it out.
Instead he buries himself back in the pillows on the couch and falls asleep hoping he'll wake up and have a life that actually makes sense.
It's a week and a half before Mike mentions it. He just can't help it from spilling out.
"Harvey?"
Harvey's at his desk, feet propped up while he reads the paper and Mike loiters nervously in the doorway.
Harvey doesn't look up but he hums quietly in Mike's direction and that's probably as much of Harvey's attention as Mike is going to get.
"Jessica…Jessica told me something that night we met here…" And now that it's spilling out of Mike's mouth, he couldn't feel more ridiculous.
"And?" Harvey finally looks up at him with a quirked eyebrow.
"She said you were going to do whatever you needed in order to keep me. She told me you put your job on the line."
"And I told you to trust me."
"But I just wanted to keep my job; I didn't mean for…" Mike trails off because he doesn't really know where he meant to go with that thought.
I didn't mean for you to risk your job. I didn't mean for you to risk your life.
Harvey pulls his feet down from where they were propped up and sits up straight in his chair, meeting Mike's eyes. If Mike hadn't been grilled for hours by Jessica in the middle of the night, he might actually be scared right now. Instead he's just confused.
"How many times do I need to risk my career for you until you realize you can trust me?" It should sound angry, but Harvey just sounds tired.
"It's not like—I'm not…" Mike stares at a building out the window over Harvey's left shoulder, hoping to find some coherency in the clouds.
"Mike," and it's that tone of voice again, the one that never fails to force Mike to snap to attention, meeting Harvey's eyes.
"Trust me."
There's a quiet tense moment in the office until Mike nods.
"Okay."
When Harvey smiles at him it's so quick that if he did have an absurdly accurate brain, Mike would think he'd imagined it. Seconds later though, the smile is replaced with a trademark quirked eyebrow.
"Now that we've all held hands and cried about our feelings, don't you have work to do?"