A/N: Only 6 reviews last chapter? Was there something wrong with it? You can tell me, I don't bite. Hard, lol. But thank you everyone who did review and I hope I did a better job with this chapter :D

Chapter 4 - Last Chance (Posted 6 September 2011)

After Mike hung up on Harvey, he tried calling the boy back about a thousand times. He never answered. By the end of the day he was forced to turn Mike's badge over to Jessica. He saw a look of pure surprise in her eyes as he did so.

"Tell me you're giving me this because we spelled his name wrong." she said, shaking her head.

"I think we would have noticed that a lot sooner." Harvey answered, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"What happened?"

"It's my fault." Harvey told her immediately. "He quit because I made him feel like he wasn't doing a good enough job."

"Harvey." she scolded.

"I know. I messed up." He looked away.

"You sure did. Mike was one of our most promising first-years."

"I can fix it." Harvey said.

"He quit for real this time." she said as she looked at the badge. "You can't fix it. We don't make a habit of rehiring people who quit. The only thing you can do is hold interviews again and go in search of a new associate."

Harvey nodded solemnly before heading to exit his boss's office.

"And Harvey," she called after him, "don't drive this one away."

X

The rest of the week passed in a blur. As Harvey tried to put everything together for an interview session. He was on his own with this because Donna refused to help him.

And he was not looking forward to it at all. He thought of the last time, as he screened boring wanabe after boring wanabe until he finally got a wink from Donna as a skinny blonde stumbled into the interview. It would be just like that again, only he was sure he wasn't going to find someone like Mike.

When the end of the week finally came, Harvey was extremely distracted. He pawned all his work off onto the less capable, ass-kissing associates as he waited for Mike to come get his paycheck. The check was in his possession, of course, because that way he would be forced to come see Harvey one last time. But he wondered in passing if maybe the kid would decide not to pick it up, citing the fact that he really didn't deserve the firm's money as a reason even though Harvey guessed he would be trying to avoid certain people as well.

He wanted to give up at the end of the day, telling himself that Mike wasn't coming. But something just wouldn't let him leave. He stayed later than usual, knowing that if he went home he would still be thinking about Mike, so it really didn't matter where he was. So he sat in the front lobby, looking like he was waiting for someone, when sure enough he saw a recognizably too-thin figure walking up to the building.

Mike walked in and clearly didn't notice Harvey sitting in a far corner, watching him walk nervously to the reception desk. He tried to hear what Mike was asking the receptionist even though he guessed he was asking to go pick up his check. And he almost smiled when he saw Mike's look of confusion when she must have told him that Mr. Specter himself was holding it for him. Mike looked down and thanked her before walking in the direction toward Harvey's office.

So, Harvey thought, he's willing to face me after all. "Mike." Harvey called out, causing said boy to halt and turn around, a frightened look on his face. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the paycheck, handing it out as he walked toward him.

"Why do you have that?"

"Because I wanted to talk to you, but you wouldn't answer your phone."

"Ok. You wanna talk, then talk. But don't take too long, it's getting dark and I don't want to be on my bike this late."

"When is the last time you ate?" Harvey said, taking in Mike's sickly form.

"I have to go." Mike turned and started walking away from him, but Harvey caught him by the sleeve.

"Mike, please..."

"No!" Mike shook him off and stared at him. "Just stop it, okay? My grandmother died, Harvey. The only person who cared about me is dead. So don't you talk to me like you care. I don't need that right now. If you pretend to care about me, I just might pretend to believe you, and that wouldn't be good for either of us."

"I'm not pretending." Harvey said quietly.

Mike shook his head in frustration. "Please stop it." His voice was so small and pleading that it made Harvey want to hug the poor kid. But he couldn't. He might be willing to admit to mike that he cared about him a little, but hugging him in public would take away his edge.

That's why he said, "Come back to my place. We really need to talk."

Mike bit his lip and looked at him. He was skeptical.

But skeptical was better than nothing. "Please? Just hear what I have to say. If you don't like it or don't believe me, I won't bother you anymore."

Biting his lip harder, Mike nodded and gained a little bit more trust in Harvey when he saw a small relieved smile creep onto his face.