Harvey Had A Brother (a Suits fanfiction)
Rated: T
Pairings: Mike/Harvey
Summary: Mike asks Harvey about his family, but becomes suspicious when he's reluctant to talk about the little brother he once mentioned. Mike resolves to find out why. Slash.
A/N: I know I don't need to be starting another new story but I figure it's okay with the last chapter of Handling It going up tomorrow :D
Chapter One - Conditions (Posted 21 December 2011)
"So you say you don't care about people, right?" Mike asked one night out of the blue. They'd been working silently but efficiently on a case late into the night.
Harvey looked over at him. "I don't just say it."
"Yeah, sure. But what about your family? Surely you have family and friends that you care about?"
Harvey pursed his lips. "That's different. I like to know that they're doing well, but that's not really caring. Caring is doing things for someone and constantly checking in on them, and showing that you care. I don't do that."
"But why?"
"You know, I don't recall it ever being your business." he said with a pointed stare.
"I just want to understand." Mike defended. "I've met people that don't care because they just don't. But that's not you, you obviously choose not to care. I just want to know why."
"It doesn't matter why. What matters is that you finish those files before I finish these." he held up a folder.
"Well if you tell me I'll stop pestering you and get to work."
Harvey sighed, an unrecognizable look in his eyes. "You should get back to work regardless."
"Come on, Harvey. I've told you everything you wanted to know the moment you asked. And besides, you like to see me doing well, so that obviously means you consider me some kind of friend. Why can't you just tell me?"
"Tell you what," Harvey said, sitting back and thinking for a moment.. "If you ask me a question, I'll answer it truthfully. Then you can deduce a motive from the evidence presented to you, just like you would in a case."
"What's your middle name?" Mike asked.
"A relevant question, Mike."
"How do I know if you're really telling the truth? If you're so intent on hiding it, who's to say you won't lie about it?"
Harvey shrugged. "I guess you'll just have to trust me."
Mike took a deep breath. "I haven't really done a very good job of that since you hired me, have I?"
"You've been better lately." Harvey afforded him the tiny complement. Then he leaned forward and spoke in a serious tone. "But listen to me, I promised the truth, so I'm going to give you every bit of truth that pertains to the answer, and you probably won't like some of it."
Mike shrugged, but his eyes held a subtle deer-in-the-headlights kind of blankness. "I can handle it."
"One more condition."
Another shrug. "Anything."
"For every question you ask me, I get to ask you any question I want. And-"
"That's not fair!" Mike gaped.
"You didn't let me finish. And close your mouth, you leave it hanging open like that and someone will take it as an invitation." Mike snapped his mouth shut with an embarrassed glare. Harvey gave a satisfied smirk and continued, "As I was saying, I can ask you any question I want, but you don't have to answer."
Mike puffed his cheeks in confusion. "But you could do that any time..."
"I still wasn't done." Harvey rolled his eyes in annoyance. "You don't have to answer, but anything you do say is completely confidential and judgement free. I won't use it as a bargaining chip against you, and I won't give you a hard time about it." Harvey felt a sense of pride grow within him. He knew Mike probably couldn't see the logic in this, but it would really work to his advantage if he wanted the kid to talk. Mike wasn't the only one who needed answers, after all.
"That's it?"
Harvey nodded. "That's it."