So hi everyone; been a few years since I wrote fanfiction but this series just makes me want to soooo much. I did this in a night so sorry for any horrible mistakes I didn't catch, it is obviously unbetaed. I love Mike and Harvey and there are slight hints of slash but they can be seen even in a bromance light for the most part (until the end)
Disclaimer: I don't own Suits or any characters; they belong to USA.
Here it is, All Words Converge. Originally, I had the Trevor one start off the story but the episodes took place after the Donna, Louis points so I moved it. I still think of it as my favorite though.
Donna: If he wasn't quick, he wouldn't survive. I hope more than know he will.
She remembers winking and the thought of boredom appeased (because she knew Harvey would avoid his associate at all costs if he blended in with his peers). In hindsight, his delivery could have been better, but compared to what had come before, and inevitably after, she could forgive him that.
But, she swore, only that. The associates had come and gone in the six plus years she worked at the firm, and there had yet to be another Harvey, which had proven to be both a blessing and a tragedy. Mike Ross got in the door without a college degree, and Donna never loved overhearing a conversation more, except for that one time Louis and Harvey fought over a client a year ago. He just had more to prove and coddling was not going to help, at all.
He grows on her easily, though, willing to learn and challenge, quips and facts equally ready to be let out. Clever words aren't nearly as important as what Mike changes, however. He pushes Harvey, and more importantly, hurts him as much as Harvey has done the same. She's never known Harvey to care so quickly (and she knows he does care just as well as she knows he can never admit it, most of all to himself unless absolutely necessary).
And Mike clearly wants to make his mentor proud, snark and subtle glances aside. For those reasons, Donna ends up watching him flail and later recover with a smile she refuses to ever let him see.
Damn, she's going to end up really liking him. Almost as much as Harvey does.
Louis: My foe has a chink in his armor, and I can't help but be impressed by the weakness I'm exploiting.
Louis is damned good at his job, and will not let anyone forget it, especially if their name is Specter. So when he sees the messy suit belonging to Harvey's new pet (and he would have belong to Louis if the promotion had gone the way it should have), he can't help but introduce himself and lay down the ground rules.
Never let it be said that he did not at least try to abort the formation of Harvey Jr.
So with patented patience, he watches Ross basically squirm out of their first meeting as quickly as possible. There's no way the associates will last longer then the crash and burn first two weeks without guidance, and Louis does not want the crop to fall apart under his year of command.
His meeting with Ross is not truly personal except to see what Harvey's brought in, but days later, he's being threatened in the bathroom by Protective Harvey, a side Louis has never seen before. He finds it hilarious and almost out of character until he realizes it is just Harvey being territorial. But it's still mostly hilarious.
When the golden protégé is handed off the endless paperwork and finds both the errors and the backbone to not rat out his fellow associate, Louis knows he will have fun with this kid, and proceeds to do so, using a fake drug test to help get a major client signed.
Unlike last time, it is clear as day Jealous Harvey will not let this offense go unpunished (and he has yet to find out what really happened) but does not yet understand that Ross needs someone to guide him. Here Louis gets annoyed; Ross is not exclusively Specter's, especially when he's clearly wilting away without aid-so why not gain a client and the loyalty of someone so promising?
A week later, he knows Specter is still gloating that his associate used his smirk and brought Louis down.
But as time goes on, little shifts occur in even his own thinking. Mike Ross is a strange creature, leaving care in his path and stunned minds in his wake as he goes through the paces and keeps coming out on top no matter what is thrown his way. Its years of competing with Harvey (know thine enemy, know thyself) that gives him insight to the softer, prouder looks when Ross is unable to notice or the hand pressingpushingprodding at a lower back.
The closest thing Harvey comes to having a weakness is Mike Ross, and Louis will work that to his advantage, but when he doesn't need to, he'll grudgingly note the rising success rates and the scribbles of highlighters in a plethora of colors.
He will not, however, inform Harvey of his change of opinion. The man, who has instilled a healthy distrust of Louis in his pet, remembers everything, stemming from threats long spoken in the men's bathroom on the thirteenth floor.
Mine.
Trevor: He's the best friend I don't deserve, but now someone does.
He's given a lot of time to think on the bus, fleeing New York and the clarion calls of responsibility for his actions, blood stains against pale skin, and interchanging names to match the beat of his heart: JennyMikeJennyMikeJenny.
Mike.
And Harvey now, for better or for worse. All of the words he has left to say to the best friend he has consistently failed are kept at bay by sharp eyes and an even sharper suit (which Mike was quick to defensively note, once hammered, did look good on his boss) that helped buy him both safe passage and a chance for tomorrow.
But Harvey's never been a part of the story, showing up in the final chapter of the epic novel that was the ups and downs (mainly downs) in his friendship with Mike. But that is not a story he's able to look back on at the moment, when the bruises have yet to fade and the last image he has is pensive bright blue eyes being ushered into an expensive car.
So Trevor closes his eyes on the bus and remembers he's leaving the most important person in his life and, for once, helping him more than himself. He robbed Mike of a chance at a future he was clearly destined to do, something a certain other noted and began to remedy.
It is not, nor will it ever be, enough to sooth the knot in his chest that keeps him up when he remembers to focus on it, but maybe it can be a start.
Rachel: He's grown so much, even if he has yet to realize it himself.
He's not as hopeless as the day they met, when she assumed all he cared about was her pretty brown eyes. He's no longer struggles to handle simple traditions at Pearson Harden, and she has yet to see him stoned out of his mind and crashing for upsetting Harvey.
Against all odds (and she knows associates long gone had placed bets on when Harvey would turn him loose to float in the sea of their collective group) Mike Ross had survived his first year in the firm. She was not surprised in the least; for all his battles with Harvey, and there have been some ugly ones, he has never been given up on, nor has he given up on is mentor, or his job. There's a loyalty there different from the one they share, but Rachel doesn't care about that. She's more focused on the task at hand, as always.
So, like any best friend that refused to turn into a love interest, she drags him outside on his lunch break and pays for his hotdog. The new cuisine has never really interested him, much to Rachel's chagrin, but she adapts to getting him to try little things in return for reminders of what he has put her through.
In all honesty, there are only so many more times they can do this before he's sent even higher in the clouds and unable to meet up with her so easily. Mike does not comment when she mentions all of these thoughts to him except to snort and tell her he'd most likely be dead before he reaches senior partner.
Despite his best attempts, and the clear fact he cares more than anything else, he has gained some of his mentor's savvier traits and knows when to deflect and change the subject; he spends a moment studying a couple nearby and says something to make her laugh and forget who they will become in the future.
When they return to work and separate at his cubicle, she does not remark over the box on his desk or the way his eyes light up as he reads the card.
It's something he needs to figure out on his own.
Harvey: He's the best mistake I ever made; the worst would be to tell him that.
There are mornings, usually the rare occasion Mike gets to him before Harvey can reach the coffee on his desk, that do one of two things. He's either impressed or chagrined over the fact he can not strangle his employee in front of all of these witnesses, many of whom have become fond of Mike (Donna, you traitor).
Those silent "Good Boy" days often involve scanning and corrected thousands of pages in less than a night and the mistake being phenomenal, those on the smaller scale can wait until Harvey is in his office, and give an extra rush when commenting to Louis how it was Mike who found it (Louis is no longer as surprised or bitter, which tends to ruin Harvey's fun).
Then again, he could be walking into slow land, where his resident genius is distracted by the latest call from Trevor (who he will never like and will maim Mike over one of these days) or the loss of Rachel (who really needs to make Mike do more of his damn work, its been over a year and her vacations and illnesses are bothersome).
Timely mornings always give way to nights, where Harvey is finishing the last of his work and Mike continues to dive head first into whatever new project someone else has heaped on him. But those minutes where everything keeps quiet, the daily rush over and the only noise is pen on paper (if Mike is even in the room) are a separate entity of their own, where Harvey sits down and marvels over the fact They. Have. Not. Been. Caught. Despite a few close calls, and they have had them, the teamwork remains and is strong.
Through the year plus they've formed a strictly working relationship (because Harvey Specter does not care about how blue his associate's eyes are even at 1 AM or how his head will always lull towards Harvey on the longer rides they're forced to share at godawful hours and will never ever think twice about looks he sees himself returning as easily as ...he will not think about these things) Harvey has changed, and Mike is too clever not to notice but does not comment. Neither does Harvey.
Harvey ignores those thoughts and focuses on the case at hand and how easily he will win at court tomorrow. Because he will win no matter what.
If the opposing side has any dignity left once he's done, he's damning skinny ties and banning them for good.
Woo! And no conversations either. I initially had Jessica in there for Harvey but I couldn't help myself. Let me know what you think?