Disclaimer: I don't own Suits, Queer as Folks, or any of the characters. If I did, I would be too busy doing other stuff to write any fics. ^_~

Warning: This is slash (Harvey x Mike and established QaF relationships). Don't like, don't read, although it is all quite tame.

Chapter 4: Harvey

Harvey was amused. He had been pissed for the past three days, but now he was amused.

Most of the settlement details had been discussed and decided over conference calls and while some face time was necessary, it had been other partners who had gone to Pittsburgh for the few in person meetings. But it had been decided that Harvey, as their best closer, would go for the signing as one final caveat to ensure the plaintiffs signed the settlement agreement.

When Harvey and Mike arrived, they had the perfect game plan: present the lead plaintiff and the attorney the settlement agreement and go over the details of the settlement one final time and watch them sign on the line. Considering that they only had the one meeting scheduled for signing the paperwork, they had planned on being in Pittsburg for only a few hours.

Harvey had originally anticipated getting home in time for a late dinner and had asked Donna to make a dinner reservation for him and Mike. What was not anticipated was being thrown for a loop when the plaintiff indignantly ripped the agreement apart and the attorney suddenly demanding 30% in damages. And now because of one stubborn jackass, they had been stuck here for four days.

Flashback

"Don't worry Doug," Harvey reassured the client over a conference call with Hanley and Jessica. "I don't want to be here any longer than I have to. We already had a scheduled hearing date, but would have avoided it if they settled. But if they want to go to court, we'll go there with them. And we'll make sure they don't enjoy themselves."

Jessica added reassuringly, "Unfortunately these things happen. You know they do. Deals and agreements break down all the time even when you think they've been finalized. In these situations, it would be too good to be true if every single plaintiff was reasonable and settled. They were agreeable on the phone, but when we arrive they sandbag us refusing to settle the lawsuit. We'll handle it. Harvey, I trust you'll be able to get all the necessary paperwork filed? And keep trying with the plaintiffs. It would still be best to get them to settle."

"I have it covered. It's not necessary for you to come out. No use in all of us wasting away here. I'll call you with updates as soon as I get them," Harvey promised.

"I know how capable you are Harvey. I've been with Pearson Hardman long enough to know you'll fix this. But just the same, it would probably be better PR if I do fly out," Doug Hanley said.

"Absolutely Doug. And I will be flying out for the hearing as well," Jessica soothed.

After Doug said his goodbyes and hung up and it was only Jessica and Harvey on the line, her tone did a 180 and she began reprimanding him. "You better fix this, or don't bother coming back. You know how to read people better than most and you should have adapted your attitude to match –"

"I gotta get these papers filed and you're taking up precious time. I'll talk to you later," Harvey cut in quickly and hung up.

Mike looks at Harvey and asks, "So what do we do now? And you never answered my question, or hers. How could you let this happen? I totally could have predicted that Brian Kinney would have done that."

Harvey retorts, "Really, and how would you predict that? You didn't meet him until today."

Mike gives Harvey a pointed look, "Because, from the little I know, it's like he's practically another you. He's got lots of similar characteristics. I mean –"

"He is definitely not another me," Harvey denies emphatically, looking insulted. "That guy is so irritating, the way he just sits there looking so cocky, like he's God's gift to Earth. He's probably his own biggest fan and constantly telling people how great he is."

Upon receiving another pointed look and a smirk from Mike, Harvey says defensively, "I am not like that, ok?"

Mike smiles, and taking Harvey's hand, soothes, "Ok, ok. You're nothing like him. You're 10 times the man he is."

"Damn right I am," Harvey agrees with a grin.

Then Mike comments, "But you were pretty patronizing. I mean I've never heard you speak to other opponents like that in other similar situations. What happened in there?"

Harvey shakes his head slightly. Mike was right, he had let himself slip. He wasn't even sure he knew why, other than the fact that Brian Kinney really irked him and something else he couldn't quite pin down. But all Harvey said was, "We need to get them to settle or get the court to force them to settle. If other clients of Hanley's get wind of what's going on, they might start thinking about jumping ship, which would cause even more trouble. I'm pissed and we're gonna bury them. Here's what I want you to do…"

End flashback

And now, after sitting and listening to the opposing council's argument, Harvey had become amused. She was actually pretty good. Not good enough to get everything they want, but her dramatic projections and the conviction in her voice that shows she actually believes in everything she's saying was just so damn amusing that Harvey was kinda sorry he was going to have to crush her confidence. Eh…actually not really, but this was going to be fun. Harvey stood and took to the floor.

"My opponent is right on one thing. Someone completely unscrupulous did steal a significant amount of money from her clients," Harvey begins. He looks at Mel and Brian and gestures sympathetically, earning him a pair of glares. "But that someone is not my client, Doug Hanley. Hanley Investment Funds is as much a victim as the plaintiffs. Because of one corrupt investment manager, the company's reputation has been tarnished and they will need to work to rebuild trust between the investors, clients and the company. And never once did Hanley Investment Funds break any laws. Independent as well as internal auditors regularly audit their accounts and due diligence was always performed according to federal statutes, more rigorously in fact. As you can see in the audit report, the culprit, Mark Seeley, was ingenious in his process of committing his crimes and prior to this incident, Seeley had a clean record. And once Seeley's scheme was uncovered, Doug Hanley and everyone at Hanley Investments has cooperated with the authorities completely and even sued Seeley for damages, much of which we passed along and included in our settlement offer to the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs had been entirely prepared to sign the agreement because they knew that the amount we offered them was very fair. To suddenly change their minds after everything had been decided upon is completely underhanded behavior."

While Harvey was making his arguments, Jessica was whispering with Hanley. Prior to the hearing, he had decided that he would rather see the plaintiffs receive more than what was previously agreed upon than drag the suit into a full trial. Once it was confirmed again how much more to add to the settlement, Jessica wrote out a number on a legal pad for Harvey to see.

Harvey continues on, "And while we firmly believe that our original settlement offer is extremely fair and would more than sufficiently recover the plaintiffs financially, we really do not wish to waste anymore of the court's time by dragging this suit to trial. And as my client is feeling especially generous, we're proposing to increase the damages settlement to 17.5% of the amount. That is almost a 30% increase from the original amount. With this we believe that there should be absolutely no reason for the plaintiffs to continue with the suit."

Harvey glanced over at Brian and arched a brow as if daring him to refuse that offer.

So I didn't originally intend to actually have this much time spent in the court room, but once I started typing it just came out this way and I'm too lazy to change the story... sorry if it was kinda boring. =/

More coming soon. Kindly review.