Giggles96 has not only agreed to beta all new chapters but also to go back and help with the old ones. My old chapters will be reposted periodically as they get done. No real hurry seeing as the basic story won't change. I do appreciate the assistance.

Disclaimer: I don't own suits or any of the characters

Changed Facts

1. Mike does have a law degree, but he didn't tell Harvey. They met as the show had them meet. Mike didn't tell Harvey because he got the degree from Harvard without actually going to a single class; he tested out of all of his classes and had a degree by the time he was sixteen. The issue he faced was that no one wanted to hire a teenage lawyer so he was unable to find a job. When he met Harvey, he sized him up as a man who was more likely to hire a competent non-lawyer than a competent teenage lawyer.

2. Mike's parents died when he was two and a half, and his grandmother was deemed unfit to raise him so he was placed in the system. Unfortunately, he didn't have all that much luck and was placed in three consecutive, abusive, foster homes before running away at seven. He lived on the streets until he was fourteen when he filed for emancipation, and then 'rented' a room from his grandmother while testing out of high school, pre-law, and then Harvard law - all on a scholarship because of his intelligence.

3. He met Trevor in the same building and they became friends despite the age gap.

4. Mike's grandmother fell ill when he was sixteen and he had to put her in a home, thus starting the LSAT test taking. As in the show, he had to move her to full time. This lead to the drug deal and meeting Harvey.

5. Mike was 18 when Harvey hired him.

6. Trevor didn't know that Mike tested out of Harvard, so he went to Jessica to tell Mike's "secret".

7. Jessica took Mike out to dinner, but didn't buy the story he gave and called him on it then and there. That is where the story picks up and it goes from there and Mike cracks.

8. I'm going to call this AU, but that's because I don't know all of the law and will most likely get it wrong. so if it's my little world then the law is what I like. I will be trying to stay on target.

Chapter 1

"That's bullshit," Jessica stated. She stared Mike down and enjoyed watching him squirm. "What's the real story?"

"What makes you think that's not the real story?" Mike asked nervously in a bid to stay calm. He had told Harvey that Jessica knew and Harvey had told him that it was just a dinner - that it was Jessica getting to know him because she was impressed by him.

Harvey had lied.

"Please. Don't treat me like a fool," Jessica scoffed. "I don't like that."

Mike gulped. He didn't like this. He hadn't wanted to tell anyone his secret. Even Harvey didn't know.

"I…"

"I know that you don't have a degree," Jessica said flatly, before casually remarking, "And I am telling you now that you're fired."

"What?!" Mike gasped. "You're firing me?!"

"Yes. I can't have an associate who doesn't have a law degree."

"I have a law degree," Mike maintained.

"I've checked you out, Mr. Ross," she revealed. "You are listed as having graduated from Harvard Law, but there is no record of you having attended any law school in the entire country."

"That's because I never actually went to a law school," Mike said firmly, with only a hint of exasperation. "But I did graduate from Harvard law."

"And how is that possible?" Jessica enquired.

Mike sighed, knowing that once he told her, she'd figure out the rest - the one thing that he'd been trying so hard to keep from everyone. He didn't want to tell her, but he saw no other choice in the matter. "I didn't go to the school. I tested out of it," he muttered. "All of it."

"You…" Jessica trailed off. He tested out? There was only one person who had ever tested out and Mike was too old to be that person.

Wasn't he?

Leaning back, she took a good long look at the person sitting across from her. He had his head down and was staring down morosely at his plate. Pushing his food around, (the vegetables, that is. They were the only thing left) his shoulders were slumped and she couldn't help but think that he looked rather… defeated.

"You're just a kid," she finally said.

Mike looked up at her. He really hadn't wanted her to know.

"Yeah," he admitted, before blurting, "Please, you can't tell Harvey!"

"You mean he doesn't know?" Jessica frowned.

"No. I never told him," Mike confessed.

"Why not?"

"Because no one wants to hire a teenager. When I met him, Harvey said he wanted a 'grown Goddamn man' and he wouldn't have hired me if he'd known I was only eighteen. Please, you can't tell him. Please," Mike implored with hugely dilated eyes.

"I can't promise that," Jessica responded. She looked at Mike again, easily seeing the eighteen year old boy that he was while he sat there, squirming in his seat and practically begging her not to inform Harvey of his true age.

"Please," Mike begged again.

"I'll think about it," Jessica allowed, "Now, about your real story."

She knew that what Mike had said was a lie, but was finding it difficult to wrap her head around. How could he have been lying to her all along?

Mike looked up at her with pleading eyes, but eventually relented, knowing that she wasn't one to give in

"My parents died when I was two and a half," he hesitantly began, "And I was put in the system. At seven, I ran off. Then later, I became emancipated after I turned fourteen, renting a room from my grandmother until she needed to go into a nursing home two years later."

Jessica sat back, taking in what she'd just been told.

Mike had seemed sincere when he was speaking, and she was one to know when someone was being untruthful. However, if that were correct, then he'd had a pretty hard life. Life in the system had to have been horrible for a kid to run away at the age of seven, and then not reappear on the map for another seven years.

She wasn't a fool - she understood what 'ran off' meant.

For seven years, Mike had lived on the streets.

He had to have been a tough kid to survive living on the streets of New York for so long, especially given his age. He could have gone to his grandmother, but that would have been the first place anybody would have looked, so it was highly doubtful.

"By ran off, you went to your grandmother?" she asked, just to be sure.

Mike looked back up at her, practically pleading with her not to make him answer, but she just stared him down, waiting.

"No," he said finally.

Jessica nodded. She had thought as much, but had wanted her suspicions validated.

"You never went to her?"

"No," Mike repeated.

"Then, where did you live?"

Mike watched her. She knew - he could tell.

"Why ask when you already know the answer?"

"You're not in a position to refuse to answer," Jessica coolly responded. "Unless, of course, you don't mind me tipping off Harvey..."

"So, if I answer your questions, you won't tell Harvey and you won't fire me?"

Jessica thought about it for a minute. She wasn't about to fire Mike so long as everything checked out when she got back to the office (which she already knew it would). Ultimately, she saw no reason not to go along with his request. If she really wanted Harvey to know, she could just tell Donna.

"Agreed," she said, nodding.

Mike sighed. At least his job was safe. That's all he wanted.

"I lived… wherever I could," he murmured.

Raising a brow, Jessica prodded, "Meaning?"

"Meaning, I lived in parks and alleys and abandoned buildings. Once in a while I'd stay in a shelter, but I couldn't do it too often because people tend to call the cops when they see kids at homeless shelters. There were many times during the winters that I would stay in different libraries. Those were the best," Mike said with a small smile appearing on his face.

He had really loved those times in the libraries curled up for hours - days, even - just reading.

"Libraries?" Jessica asked, curious.

"I like to read," Mike shrugged.

"Why?" Jessica wondered. Reading wasn't usually the top hobby of street kids; at least, she didn't think it was.

"Reading is a good escape," Mike explained. Jessica quirked her eyebrow at this and stayed silent, waiting for more of an explanation. He sighed. "When I was reading, I could fall into a different world. I could ignore the hunger, the cold, the pain - everything - and just focus on the story. I also read to learn. I spent an entire winter in the law library of a local college. I also read every history, science, math and English textbooks I could get my hands on. From reading different books and listening to audiotapes alone, I learned twelve separate languages. Reading…" He paused, giving a sheepish smile and finishing, "Reading helped."

Jessica stared at him. Well, in her opinion, that was a rather good reason to enjoy reading.

"How did you eat?" she then asked.

Mike looked down at that. "I panhandled some, went to some soup kitchens, though that couldn't happen much. As with the shelters, children don't want to be seen at one too often. I would check any vending machine or newspaper machines for spare change. Some people were kind and gave handouts. I also went through dumpsters." Mike sighed. Those were things that he was OK with, but… "I also stole when I had to," he continued, grimacing. "I went hungry a lot as well."

Jessica nodded. She had wanted to know if he'd be honest. Turned out, he would.

"Very well," she said, as she signalled the waiter to bring the check.

Mike looked up at her curiously.

"That's all you wanted?" he said in disbelief.

"Is there something else I should know?"

"No," Mike shook his head, "I just thought that you'd have more questions."

Most people wanted to know about why he ended up on the streets, but he was thankful that Jessica didn't.

"Alright then, I'll see you at work first thing tomorrow," she bid farewell as she paid the check and then headed out.

She had originally intended to make Mike handle the bill, but that was when she had believed he was lying. He wasn't lying now, and she wouldn't feel comfortable making him pay.

Mike stared after Jessica as she left. That had gone better than he'd assumed it would. With any luck, she would keep her promise and not tell Harvey anything.

Well, here's hoping, he thought, as he stood to leave.

Tomorrow was going to be interesting.