Thank you so much to everyone who read/reviewed/favorited/followed! Hope you continue to enjoy this. This one is really very random and silly, but if you're an angst junkie then hang in there til tomorrow because there'll be a real hug then!

2. Haunted House

The second time that Mike hugs Harvey actually ends in physical violence.

It happens like this: Jessica wants to convince Philip Hennepin, a famous young baseball player, that he should sign on with the firm. So she puts Harvey on the job, fully trusting him to close the deal. Initially Harvey's interested in the case because he loves baseball…and he might secretly be hoping that he'll get to meet some of Philip's teammates or maybe even toss a ball around with Philip himself. So when Philip calls and invites him over for a casual meeting to talk over the possibility of retaining Pearson Hardman as legal counsel for future contract negotiations, Harvey has a wonderful mental image of himself chatting with Philip about the firm while playing catch in the front yard of Philip's mansion. He can see himself befriending the young man and receiving a lifetime's supply of season tickets with a seat right behind home plate. He can practically smell the peanuts and the ballpark franks…

…that is, until Philip calls the day before their scheduled meeting and changes their plans. It turns out that the young pitcher is a devoted father and he spends all of his time during the off season with his family to make up for the time he misses at home when he's playing. So Philip calls Harvey and says that he's promised his daughter Lindy that he'll take her to a haunted house tomorrow since it's almost Halloween, and would Harvey mind coming along and chatting with him at the haunted house instead of at the mansion? Harvey grits his teeth and gracefully acquiesces, but inside he wants to shake Philip Hennepin and remind him that he can take his daughter to a haunted house any old time he wants but he can't play catch with Harvey Specter any time he wants to.

Mike decides it's a good idea to mercilessly tease Harvey about having to wear a Halloween costume and go to a haunted house with a little girl. Harvey quickly rectifies this erroneous assumption by informing Mike that he's coming along too and that he also has to dress up, and Mike shuts up very quickly. Harvey had originally told Mike that he wasn't coming along because he didn't want Mike to interfere with his chance to make a good impression on Philip by asking something stupid and Mike-ish about baseball. But now that Harvey has to wear a costume and suffer, he's sure as hell going to make Mike suffer with him.

He has a feeling that it's going to be a rough evening, and these suspicions are only confirmed when he and Ray show up at Mike's apartment to pick the younger man up and Mike appears, gleefully costumed and raring to go. He feels the slight pain behind his temples blossom into a headache as he takes in Mike's outfit: his associate is decked out in full Robin regalia— something that Harvey assumes is not a coincidence, since he himself is wearing a simple but classy Batman mask and a black cape. He had avoided going all out in the interest of maintaining some degree of professionalism. Damn Donna. She had probably told Mike that Harvey was going as Batman and Mike had taken it upon himself to find a corresponding costume.

"Why are you just wearing a mask and cape? Where's the rest of the batsuit?" Mike asks, clearly not impressed by Harvey's lack of intense devotion to correct costuming.

But Harvey refuses to answer his infuriating associate. He settles for rubbing his temples to prevent the headache from snowballing into a migraine and frowning out the window in dignified lawyerly fashion.

"Oh, now you're not talking to me because I'm dressed as Robin? Real mature, Harvey. Maybe I just picked this costume because I like Robin. It might not have anything to do with you," Mike says loftily before shaking his head and grinning. "Holy ego, Batman," he mumbles quietly and Harvey pretends not to hear.

When they arrive at the haunted house, Philip and his daughter Lindy are already there. Philip is dressed as Frankenstein and Lindy is a pirate. She has an eye patch, gold hoop earring, and a bird on her shoulder. She also has quite an outspoken personality. She immediately decides that she likes Mike and latches on to him. She then also chastises Harvey for his lack of commitment in his costume choice.

"Is it really that hard to at least put on a black suit with your mask and cape, Mr. Harvey?" Lindy asks, frowning severely and taking hold of Mike's hand. Harvey wonders how a six-year-old who is missing her two front teeth and has facial hair drawn on her face in sharpie can manage to look so intimidating. It's possible that she's been taking classes from Donna. Mike sticks his tongue out at Harvey for half a second and Harvey rolls his eyes.

"Shall we head into the haunted house?" Philip asks.

"Yeah, let's go, Daddy!" Lindy shrieks excitedly. "Come on, Mr. Mike," she says, tugging Mike along impatiently. Harvey finds himself slightly jealous of Mike's easy way with kids—but then Lindy swipes at her runny nose with one grubby hand and Harvey changes his mind. Mike can stick with the children and Harvey will stay in his nice, clean bubble of personal space, thank you very much.

Harvey pulls off his mask so that he can actually see and falls into step with Philip as they enter the haunted house. It's been a very long time since Harvey's been in one and he's forgotten how much he hates them. His idea of a good time typically involves gambling, classy alcohol, and women; not grimy children running around screaming as they're chased by poorly costumed carnies.

Lindy is absolutely terrified, and Mike seems a bit on edge as well. To be honest, Harvey's not really that surprised— Mike's manly enough, but after listening to a lot of the younger man's half-delirious late night ramblings at the office, Harvey knows that he has a pretty active imagination. An imagination that is probably in overdrive right now, since they are being chased down a hallway by zombies at the moment. Lindy shrieks and jumps into her father's arms, sobbing.

"Daddy, I want to go! Please can we leave, Daddy?!" Lindy wails loudly. One of the workers, a nice young man dressed as a murderous clown, opens a secret employee-only door in the wall to lead them back down and outside. Mike and Harvey try to follow but the door swings shut too quickly, leaving them standing alone in the eerily dark and silent hallway.

Harvey hears Mike's breathing quicken and he can't deny that his own heart is beating slightly faster than normal in light of the unnatural silence and pitch blackness.

"Well I guess we should try and find our way out, right?" Mike laughs shakily, his voice more high-pitched than normal. "Philip and Lindy will be looking for us."

"Yeah," Harvey agrees casually, and they both continue down the hallway slowly. Harvey edges up in front (one of them has to be manly about this, and it's not like he's scared of a dark hallway in a completely fake haunted house scenario) and Mike follows closely behind, practically breathing down the back of Harvey's neck.

The anticipation is the worst part— it's been silent for far too long and they both know that sooner or later something or someone is going to pop out at them. That's all it is, Harvey tells himself as he proceeds forward up the rickety stairs and onto the final level of the haunted house. I'm just nervous about the surprise element of this whole situation. It's not like I'm scared.

Harvey steps onto the creaky landing of the top floor, acutely aware of the fact that Mike is now clutching onto the back of his batman cape and breathing like he's just run a marathon.

"Harvey," Mike practically whimpers and Harvey shushes him, trying to strategize.

"Shh," he says. "Listen and see if you can hear anyone hiding and waiting to jump out at us." They stand silently for a good minute or two. Finally Harvey breathes out a sigh of relief. Maybe there's no one up here after all.

"I think we're okay," he says, and he feels Mike relax slightly. No sooner has he said this, however, when a man dressed as Death descends from the ceiling and swings right at them on wires, wielding a plastic scythe.

They both panic, quite simply. Mike lets out a girlish scream and flings his arms around Harvey in an oh-my-god-please-protect-me embrace. And then Harvey, who is running completely on adrenaline at this point and wasn't expecting Mike to grab him, makes a tiny mistake and—good lord Donna is going to murder him—punches his associate in the face.

A few minutes later, an employee done up as a bloody skeleton leads them back down to the entrance, shaking his head at how pathetic the two of them are. Mike's already got a bruise forming on his cheek, and he hastily tells Lindy that he got it from fighting off the bad guys. Lindy gushes over how brave Mike is and generously gives him her pirate eye patch to cover up his rapidly blossoming black eye.

"Well, the night is still young. Do you want to come back to me house where we can get you some ice for that bruise, Mike?" Philip asks, dubiously eying the pair of them and no doubt wondering how Mike got such a shiner.

So really it all works out pretty well in the end. Mike gets his ice (and to be honest, it's not that bad of an injury— just a simple bruise that Mike declares 'is sure to impress the ladies') and he and Lindy sit on the porch and talk about superheroes while eating popsicles and Halloween candy. They watch Harvey and Philip play catch and talk about business. All in all it's a successful evening.

"I can't believe you punched me in the face," Mike says when Ray pulls up in front of the mansion to pick them up much later and they climb into the backseat of the car.

"Er— yes, about that," Harvey begins uncomfortably. He really hates apologies.

"Oh, don't worry about it, Harvey," Mike says kindly.

A little too kindly, actually.

Harvey eyes his associate suspiciously, wondering why he's grinning like the cat that got the canary after being dragged through a haunted house and punched by his boss. "Really, Harvey, it's alright. It was a valuable experience," Mike continues magnanimously.

And there's something off about this statement, but Harvey's tired now that the adrenaline has faded and he's kind of embarrassed that he panicked and his hand hurts from punching Mike. So he decides to just let it go and he turns to look out the window.

On the other side of the backseat of the towncar, Mike grins evilly to himself. After glancing over to make certain that Harvey's attention is focused on the scenery outside, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out the treasured possession that he has acquired this evening and revels in its majestic glory, trying not to laugh out loud.

It's a simple picture. It turns out that the haunted house had a camera installed on the last floor and that it took pictures of everyone who went through, much like cameras on a roller coaster do. And while Harvey had been occupied trying to find an icepack for Mike at the haunted house, Mike bought a copy of their picture from the guy manning the photobooth because it was just too good of a blackmail opportunity to pass up.

The picture shows Mike with his arms wrapped around Harvey in the second hug they have ever shared. His eyes are screwed shut in terror. Harvey, on the other hand, has his mouth open in a silent scream and his eyes are practically bugging out of his head. It is such a ridiculous contrast to the confident, dignified air that the older lawyer normally possesses that Mike is incapable of looking at it without breaking into a fit of giggles. Oh, Donna is going to love this. It was well worth getting punched in the face for. He glances over at Harvey, who is still looking out the window obliviously, and smirks. Karma is a bitch.