6 - THE BULL AND THE MATADORA: Part I

A/N: The Bull and the Matadora is split into two parts (two chapters). Here's Part I.

Donna was moving in today, and Harvey couldn't wait to see what havoc they could wreak together. What did she do off work hours? Did she sing in the shower? Would they share breakfast every morning? Were there more bizarre surprises other than the cheese pants? What should they do this weekend?

If the high pile of files sitting on his desk could talk, they'd order him to 'Get Back to Work'. For the better half the morning, all Harvey could do was daydream about his new roommate. Seriously, how badly could a grown man be smitten?

Out of habit, he looked towards Donna's workspace only to remember he'd given her the day off to settle in. Still ignoring his 'lawyerly'responsibilities, he called his red-headed distraction.

"Hi Harvey," Donna greeted on the line.

"How's it going?"

"I'm still unpacking. Remind me never to buy shoes again! You've carved out such a generous space for me, and I still can't fit them all in."

Harvey swiveled towards the windows, hiding his goofy grin from living things walking by. "As if it would make a difference. Besides, I'm not dumb enough to tell any woman not to buy shoes. I don't have a death wish."

"Wise, wise man. By the way, the room looks amazing! It's practically a clone of my old one! I can't believe you did all this in days. Thank you, Harvey."

He'd commissioned an interior designer to renovate the room in record time. No, not commissioned. He'd rained the guy with a generous amount of investment, insisting that his storeroom be turned into a Scandinavian-styled bedroom within seventy-two hours. He'd tried his best to mimic Donna's original space, hoping it could offer her a sense of familiarity. He wanted her to feel at home.

"It's yours. Do whatever you want with it. I also have Ray on standby at the lobby. If you need to buy anything, he'll take you."

"A beautiful room and a personal driver? If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were trying to charm me."

If only she did know better. He picked his next words carefully, sticking to a neutral response. "Told you. Having me as a roommate has its perks."

"Yes, we've already established that Commoner Donna will be eternally grateful," she remarked flatly. "Are you coming back for dinner? I'm making pasta so we can have a mini-welcome-me."

"Wait a minute. I offer you a room and a warm bed, and you…want...me...to celebrate...welcoming you. What kind of logic is that?"

"Donna logic. Having me as a roommate also has its perks. Once you've had me, you'll never want to let me go," she defended confidently.

'Once you've had me, you'll never want to let me go.' Harvey swallowed hard. Her words had struck too close to the truth, robbing him momentarily of speech.

"Harvey? Hello? You still there?"

He cleared his throat. Scratching his brow, he croaked, "Yes. Dinner. There. Eight?" Harvey cringed at his inarticulate delivery. Even a three-year-old could have done better. If Donna had noticed his stammering, she was kind enough not to mention it.

"Eight, it is. And while I'm not there, don't go looking for trouble!"

"When have I ever done that," Harvey objected. Donna's response was a deafening silence. He eventually caved. "It's not my fault that trouble loves to find me!"

STAGE 1 - TERCIO DE VARAS

Seeing how he'd squandered the morning away, Harvey decided to grab a quick bite from the bagel stand and get back to work. He only managed two steps before trouble in a black suit came looking for him. Fantastic. He'd successfully jinxed himself.

Louis (a.k.a. said trouble) was sweating profusely in the middle of the office. His expression was so mournful that Harvey couldn't shake off a bad feeling. Jessica was on a long vacation in Europe too. It meant that Harvey would have the honor of "embracing this rare opportunity for personal growth"- which was human resource jargon for 'You're responsible for cleaning the shit up.'

"If you're here with a crisis, I'm not interested. My schedule is full," Harvey said, hoping for once that Louis would just miraculously disappear. His prayers went unanswered. For long moments, Louis simply stood there like an overwrought statue. Something shitty had happened. "For God's sake, Louis, who have you killed now?"

Harvey had intended to provoke a snappy comeback. He could deal with a furious or a sharp-tongued Louis; he didn't know what to do with this quiet version. For a man who lived for talking, Louis's not-talking was impossibly unnerving.

Stepping around the table, Harvey studied his friend more closely. Louis's complexion was sickly pale, his lips quivering. Harvey leaned forward in steady encouragement. "Louis, what is it? Say something. Anything."

"I...I need your help, but I don't have much time to explain. They're coming to get me, and I need you to fight my case. I trust only you, Harvey," Louis mumbled as his eyes shivered shut. It was all very confusing - this paranoia.

Is the man high on something?

"I don't understand. Who's coming to get you? And what case are you talking about?"

"The Shannon Case. They're charging me for racketeering…"

Out of nowhere, Anita Gibbs and two officers marched into Harvey's office. Louis physically recoiled and as he stumbled backwards, Harvey protectively placed himself between the woman and Louis. He had no idea what was going on, but there was no chance he was giving the federal prosecutor the upper hand. Even if it meant using himself as a human shield.

She gave Harvey a cutting look from head to toe and sneered, "Why is it that we're always meeting under such dire circumstances?"

Harvey raised his chin and glared at her. Keeping his tone bored with an edge of bite, he answered, "How would I know? I've been told that I'm quite a sunny inspiration. Blue skies and rainbows everywhere I go. Maybe I'm not the one bringing the 'dire-ness' to our meetings." He steeled himself more firmly, unwilling to let her see how rattled he was. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm sure your co-managing partner has explained." Gibbs shoved an arrest warrant into Harvey's hands and signaled for the officers to take Louis away.

Harvey quickly scanned the warrant. It was legitimate. There was nothing he could do to stop them from arresting Louis. When he spotted the cuffs, Harvey shot a hand out to shield Louis from the officers. Bantering with Louis was a harmless past time - it was how they built their rapport. But letting him walk out of here looking so undignified was too insulting.

"Gibbs, leave the cuffs. Louis will go willingly," Harvey put forth. Louis nodded eagerly in consent.

"Fine. So, you'll be his attorney, then?" Gibbs asked, a triumphant smirk plastered on her face.

What Harvey really wanted to say was 'Go to hell'. But even that would be unfair and cruel to the poor civilians of hell. Seeing how Louis would be in her mercy for awhile, Harvey kept the bitter thoughts to himself. "Yes. I'll be representing Louis."

"We're bringing Mr. Litt down for questioning. You can join us or use this precious time to prep for the hearing. It will be in four days."

Only four freakin' days?

Louis read Harvey's concern and decided matters for them. "Harvey, stay and prep for the hearing. I swear I'm innocent. I won't give them anything useful. I know how it works."

Harvey nodded. They couldn't detain Louis for long without proof. "Let me arrange a few things. I'll go get you soon."

"Oh, did I forget to mention? My bad. That won't be happening," Gibbs spat out. "We have enough proof to hold Mr. Litt behind bars at the detention center. No bails. If you want to talk to him, you'll have to visit him there."

Louis's eyes widened in sheer panic, pleading for Harvey's help. Before Harvey could react, Gibbs gestured for the officers to escort Louis away.

"Good luck, Harvey." With that, she left.

Harvey had no recollection of what the case was about. Yet, he had mere days to get Louis out of this disaster. Taking a deep breath to quell his terrifying doubts, he dialed the junior partner's number.

"Pick up. Pick up," Harvey muttered impatiently. As soon as Mike answered, he bellowed, "Get me everything we have on the Shannon case. Now!"

'Everything we have on the Shannon case' turned out to be more than fifty boxes of mind-numbing documents. Mike went through the files while he paid Louis a visit. After two hours of strenuous questioning, Harvey got what he needed and rejoined Mike at his office.

By 2 A.M., they still couldn't find anything that worked in Louis's favor. Mike was sitting idly by the window, staring blankly into the night. Harvey was cradling his head in his hands, wishing for an epiphany of sorts. Productivity, level zero.

"We can't just keep sitting here," Harvey sighed as he began to pack his briefcase. "It's not doing us any good."

"Speak for yourself, Harvey. Don't underestimate my ability to just sit and stare." Mike followed his words with a yawn, betraying how tired he truly was.

"Go home, Mike. Don't keep Rachel waiting."

At the mention of Rachel, Mike walked over to Harvey. "Hey, isn't Donna moving into your place today?"

Her 'mini-celebrate-me' dinner...

"Shit! I completely forgot about dinner with Donna." Harvey pulled out his phone to find several missed calls from her. Too late to call back.

"You might want to brace yourself for Hangry Donna," Mike warned as they headed for the elevator.

"Hangry?"

"Hungry and angry. It's a terrifying combination on most women. On Donna, it's deadly," Mike explained with an empathetic smile.

"Well, then. I guess I'll have to ask Hangry Donna to hold off plans to kill me. I can't die for another few days. I have to save Louis's ass first."

"Ah, that's the best excuse ever!"

Harvey carefully opened the door to his apartment. The lights were dimly lit, the place quiet and still. He toed off his shoes, not wanting to wake Donna up with footsteps. As he tugged off his tie, Donna's voice drifted softly from afar.

"Everything alright?"

He turned to see her walking up to him. She was already in her sleepwear – a white T-shirt and one of her signature colorful pants. Her hair was tied back in a messy ponytail. Without make-up and expensive dresses, Donna in PJs suddenly became Harvey's new favorite look on her.

"I'm sorry for missing dinner. And for waking you."

She dismissed his apology with a wave. "Rachel said both you and Mike had to work on an emergency case. Have you eaten anything?"

It was almost 3 A.M. Food was the last thing on Harvey's mind, but he never got that bagel for lunch. In fact, he'd not eaten all day. As if knowing its cue, his stomach rumbled so embarrassingly loud that even Donna heard it.

"I guess that's a 'no'. I kept food for you. Let me warm it up." She frowned with concern before leading him to the kitchen.

Harvey sat on the barstool and watched Donna work around the counter. This was definitely not how he'd envisioned their first day together as roommates. Missing dinner. Waking her up in the middle of the night. And now, he had to trouble her with this.

"We'll celebrate another day. I'll make it up to you."

"Don't be silly, Harvey. There's nothing to make up for." She laid the plates out for him. "Bon Appétit, Monsieur Specter."

"Merci, Mademoiselle Paulsen." Harvey took a bite and savored the taste of home cooked food. "This is wonderful. I mean, it's not as good as my burnt toast, but…wow!"

Donna beamed and urged him to eat more. Harvey tried but could only finish half of it. His appetite was close to non-existent. On his way home, he'd thought about sparing Donna the stress. But she was close to Louis. She'd want to know.

"Donna. The emergency case…it's Louis's. He's being charged for racketeering conspiracy. They're saying he helped the client steal from the pension funds. I have four…no, three days until his hearing. Louis is now at the detention center with a no bail clause," Harvey explained. "We still don't have a good angle…if I fail, Louis could spend a long time in prison." Decades, really.

Donna worried her lips anxiously, puzzling out the details. "What do we do now? How can I help?"

"Now, we are not going to do anything, because you are going back to bed." Before she could protest, he added, "I'll need you to re-arrange my schedule for the next few days. And get me Louis's. I'll visit his clients to make sure they aren't ruffled by this incident. I also need public relations to lead on damage control."

"Consider it done. And you, Harvey? Aren't you going to bed? You need to rest, too."

"In a bit," Harvey lied. He wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon. Donna saw through his lie and narrowed her eyes. The truth was, he wouldn't be able to concentrate on the case if he had to fret over Donna too. He quirked his lips and tried another way. "Go. To. Bed. Donna. Panda eyes won't look fashionable on you. Don't say I didn't warn you."

"And they look good on you?"

"Anything looks great on me. Besides, dark circles will only add to my mysterious charisma. Makes me more irresistible," Harvey joked.

"You really know what women want," Donna countered as she cleared the plates. Before leaving, she said more seriously, "Harvey, thank you for doing this…for Louis."

Harvey attempted once more to lighten the mood. "Woman! Unless you intend to go trick-or-treating as a Red Panda this year, I suggest you get your beauty sleep now!"

She chuckled lightly at the absurd remark. "Night, Harvey."

Harvey offered her a half-smile, and Donna nodded, understanding that he needed time alone to sort everything out. He would get their friend out of this mess, no matter the cost.

"Sleep tight, Donna."

A/N (aka. Author's Nonsense): In case you're wondering, bullfighting has three stages. Part II will include the rest. I'm working on it and will upload the next chapter soon. As always, thank you so much for reading and reviewing. (*Red Panda bows) Really appreciate it!

*Law Matters: I have a very qualified law degree from Google Search. Jokes aside, to all law experts, I sincerely apologize for the inaccuracies.