[A/N: Chapter 7…The last one on the list, which I hadn't given up on it just took a while. And with Chapter 7 comes the end. Thank you for sticking around, for the fantastic enthusiasm of your reviews and amazing feedback. I appreciate every read. This one is a FLASHBACK chapter, just like the show and how they like to throw one of those in there. I thought it may be fun to see some backstory of a more intense and driven Jessica as a Junior Partner and Harvey in his earlier years at Harvard. It is complete an utter conjecture of the back-story of Harvey at Harvard, his laziness and Jessica's contrasting hard work and sacrifice. Takes place some time in the mid 90's (throw back!). For the official disclaimers, I own nothing and all belongs to the USA network. I merely like to play in the sandbox. Enjoy!]

( ̄`·._.·( ̄`·._.· The Seven Sins- Sloth·._.· ́ ̄)·._.· ́ ̄)

sloth

noun

1. reluctance to work or make an effort; laziness.

Harvey said it to himself every time and this time was no exception. As God was his witness, he was never going drinking again! Everyone knew the words to that particular mantra when it was too late. Futile attempts for self-motivation he recognized, but that warranted too much thinking for his current state.

But like clockwork every Thursday night, after Torts class, which was the last class of the week, he found himself at the local dive pub having an early start to the weekend, where the debauchery of booze, women and bullshitting was a marathon and not a sprint.

Harvey knew the moment he would open his eyes, his attempt to control his hangover would be over, and this one was going to be hell. God, he was thirsty! He rationed he would just roll over to the cool part of his bed and curl up in the crispness of the covers. Was it raining outside?

The rain started pouring down and pounding forcibly against the windowpane above his bed. Five more minutes…he had no-where to be and the weather was his indication that his plan of action was warranted.

Forty minutes later, the bells of the ringer on his rotary phone woke him from his 'five minutes'. Harvey attempted cracking one eye open.

He didn't die.

He figured that was a good sign of his current state, so he attempted the second eye and looked over to his alarm clock. 2:17pm.

Shit!

That's what he had to be up for… he had study group at 1:00pm. Ah well, he'd just bait Scottie into some scheme to get her notes. If that didn't work, he'd find some charming way to get to those notes…and Scottie herself.

Harvey slowly hulled his body, which seemed to have transformed into lead somewhere in the middle of the night, out of his bed, one foot at a time, drawing out the process as much as he could. He sat at the edge of his bed, in a seemingly philosophical position, as though he was contemplating the formula which made the universe go round, when in fact his mind was as blank as an empty canvas. Everything felt so heavy and trudging as his curled his fists and pushed himself off the comfort of his bed, just for the sake of getting some water and painkillers into his system.

His sweat pants were twisted in the wrong direction, as were most of the ends of his hair, one side matted right to his head. Harvey rubbed at his face and his small eyes, having to stop in his tracks to regain his balance. His head was spinning.

Jack Daniels was definitely not his friend that afternoon, but it he was definitely his buddy when Harvey was rounding shots at the bar with a pretty lady and her friends.

Harvey muddled around his studio apartment, still drunk after the debauchery from the previous night's events. His mind was heavy, hazy, and pounding like a dull drum beat, a broken drum nonetheless, but it still made noise the harder one pounded at it, and his head was getting worse by the second.

Harvey reached the sink of his studio apartment and gingerly tilted his head under the tap and took in as much cold water as he could. The effort to find a glass was too much for his limited capacity at that moment. He splashed some water on his face and wiped his face in his t-shirt like a complete slob. Although, he was conscious not to pull at the t-shirt too forcefully as it had a series of tiny holes at all the seams and collar, literally handing on by a thread.

Harvey shuffled, moving at the pace of sloth to the washroom to take care of his morning routine, with one added extra step; two extra strength Advil tablets to start the mend before he did this all over again that same evening.

Harvey dropped his heavy and sore body down on his leather sofa, and covered his eyes in the crook of his arm as he moaned in pain, trying to calm his upset stomach and screeching headache.

He decided to sit up as he was starting to get the spins lying on his back. The taste of Jack was out of his mouth, but not out of system. Harvey reached for his pack of smokes, lighting up hoping that sooth to his craving would allow him to settle his stomach enough to eat and absorb the acid build up in his digestive system. He was starting to feel better, convincing himself the pills were starting to do their quick work, slowing inhaling and numbing the cautiousness of his out of control insides.

Harvey was startled at the forceful pound at his door, which sounded like an amplified version of the thump in his head, but it was just infinitely louder and more domineering.

It definitely wasn't Scottie about to kill him for missing study group. Even when Scottie was pissed with him, she would just knock and yell at him through the door with some insult, which usually made him laugh.

Harvey groaned and commanded irritated, "Who is it?"

"Harvey… let me in!"

Oh shit, was that Jessica?

Harvey immediately put out his cigarette in the closest beer bottle and started rummaging around his apartment in a panic.

"Uhhhh, just a second!"

In just a few steps he reached the front door, his tiny apartment hiding nothing about the disaster of his bachelor pad.

Harvey looked at his reflection in the mirror by this door and rolled his eyes at his terrible state. He looked like a mess. His hair was not coifed and his skin looked grey and gaunt. Harvey ran his hand through his longer, tousled blonde locks. Between the product and his sleeping on it unwashed, it molded to whichever way he set it. He smacked his face a bit to revive the blood flow and did some quick-panicked stretches. And when he stretched he sniffed at his pits, oh yeah…he needed a shower, ASAP.

Harvey ripped his t-shirt off in a panicked state and tossed it in his coat closet, making no qualms about the forceful shut of the doors as he looked for a new tee. He finally found a clean one out of the laundry basket on the floor by his bed, which not surprisingly, was also in a state of a mess on the floor at his feet, just like the man himself. It had been nearly eight days and he still didn't put his stuff away.

And to top it all off, he jammed his toe against the edge of the credenza on his rushed state back to the front door.

"Goddamn it!" he yelped as he winced at the sharp slice through his ligaments.

At this point, he thought 'whatever'; clearly Jessica had an important reason for dropping in on him. She probably would care less at what he looked like, and besides he was in way too much pain to overthink it. He figured he would just sit as far away from her cause he rationed he probably smelled like a combination of a keg of booze and last night's regrets.

"Harvey I don't have all day! I bill five hundred an hour. My time is valuable. Move it!"

The heavy wood door swung open and Harvey gave Jessica his most charming smile, which cost him a pang of sharpness in his head, right behind the eye in his attempt at over compensating, which didn't hurt as much as his pulsating toe.

"Good afternoon Jessica!"

Jessica stood at Harvey's door dressed in white silk blouse and navy high wasted wide leg slacks, but they were so long he couldn't see her shoes. Her legs looked thousand miles long. Her blazer was draped over her shoulders in an attempt to shield her from the rain. Harvey couldn't help but think she was such a class-act, almost regal in how she stood, possessing her clutch as though it was her scepter.

With a perfectly made up face and pin straight flowing hair, as though the rain deflected right off her like some goddess, Jessica's lips popped in Harvey's strained vision. Her lips were dangerously red and her eyes, as black as though they were lined in charcoal and her iris' hardened as though dipped in steel. All he saw were lips moving tightly as she commanded a response at his pathetic state, "You look like shit. Move!"

She had pushed past his futile attempt to hide the disaster of his apartment and palmed his door with her full force as she moved past him easily.

"To what do I owe…"

"Save me the pseudo charm. What the hell is the matter with you?" Jessica came at Harvey has she tossed her clutch and whipped her blazer off her shoulders like the cape of a superhero.

"What are you talking about?"

"This! You think I don't know what is going on with you here? You think because I am there and you're here, that I don't know about all the bullshit you've been up to?"

"I…"

"Save it!"

"But I ca…"

"Shush…"

"But you…"

"Quiet!"

Harvey noticeably rolled his eyes and flopped back on his sofa, lighting up a new cigarette.

Jessica shook her head at his indifference and complete disregard of her presence. She couldn't believe at the state she found Harvey in. He was a walking disaster. She paced back and forth in front of him, the only thing separating her from him was his ugly second-hand wood coffee table. Harvey was lucky it was there because she never felt the urge to strangle him more than she did at that very moment.

"I give you the opportunity of a lifetime and I come to learn that you are squandering your potential…"

"Aggghhhh Jessica! Enough, ok?!" Harvey growled. He really didn't need a reaming at this very moment, he felt like shit.

Oh, but he did.

Harvey was circling the drain, down a spiral to chaos, and the worst part was he was in a complete state of denial. He needed to be rung out and pinned out to dry and Jessica was the force of nature to do it.

"You want to try that again boy? You try that tone with me again, and it won't go well for you."

"You threatening me?"

"What part wasn't clear?"

Harvey picked a spot on his wall and stared a hole into it, avoiding Jessica's livid glare and arched eyebrow at his disrespect. He was starting to get rattled in annoyance and he was quickly going from zero to one hundred.

"Look at me when I am speaking to you, Harvey!" Jessica spit in a vile threat, commanding the respect she deserved after making the trek up to Boston to see him and being inconvenienced on her well-deserved weekend.

His eyes went up immediately to her sharp features, her eyes looked like they were now blazing in annoyance and fury. Harvey was yet to see Jessica lose control and he was strangely willing to push the boundaries to see that side of her, more for his own curiosity than anything.

"You're pissing everything away, Harvey. Every morsel that this place has to offer you! You are missing the opportunity to feast upon its greatness, to nourish you in preparation for your own greatness. I come all the way to Boston to find you here in his despicable state holed up like some frat boy douche lazing away your afternoon like success is a guarantee because you feel entitled! You want to be something? You want to do something with your life? Or do you want to go back where you came from? Because I can stick right back in that tiny little mailroom and you can call couriers all day and I will rack up my black card with your tuition on shoes, purses and really expensive suits. You're choice, Harvey. "

"Easy, Jessica..."

"Let me spell it out for you, since you're still not hearing me. It. Doesn't. Get. Easier. Out. There!" Jessica spoke to him like he was a small child who needed it broken down real simple to comprehend what she was saying. The tone was simply antagonizing. "It gets a thousand times harder. What are you going to do out there when the real test comes? You think this is hard? Boy, this is kindergarten, when people are still wiping your ass and telling how special you are."

Jessica watched how agitated Harvey was becoming. She was definitely getting under that shell of easygoing Teflon Harvey thought he possessed.

"Whatever bullshit you're telling yourself to justify this deplorable state, Harvey this is a waste of my time, my resources and the well-deserved spot you took from someone else. Do you realize that there are thousands other people who would give up everything to be in the shoes you are in now? Get your shit together!"

"Look, I get it ok. It's just part of the experience, blow off some steam. I've been going really hard the last three semesters and I just need…"

"BULL SHIT! There is nothing wrong with blowing off some steam, god knows I did it too, but there is a fine line. And when your grades and quality of your work begin to spiral out of control like your emotional and mental state, that's a problem! This isn't blowing off steam anymore, this is the cusp Harvey."

"I always pull through on the exams."

"So what? Harvey, it's not about isolated greatness. Do you want to be the guy who just comes through, or do you want to be the guy who is so extraordinary that his reputation precedes him? You have the potential to be the guy who doesn't have to introduce himself, people just know. I see that in you and I see that for you. But at the rate you are going…god help you because I won't be able to, not anymore."

"Meaning?"

"After this semester, you're on your own if you don't follow through on our agreement."

"The 4.0 term?"

"That's the one. If you can't honor our agreement, the very nature of what all of this is about, I will renege on our deal. I mean it, I'm out!"

"Jessica, I get that you're pissed but it's only one semester and I can make it up in the long run of the weighted average for the GPA"

"I don't care! The dye will have already been cast and your reputation tarnished. You will have to work that much harder to re-build the faith in your professors, classmates, peers and girlfriend. You reflect on me because I have hitched you to my wagon, and god help you if you are not beaming as bright as me. I have plans and I need you to pull your shit together because what you do, reflects on me."

Jessica finally sat down on the black leather lazy-boy recliner perpendicular to Harvey and leaned on her thighs as she watched the shame wash over Harvey. Her tone became gentler as she offered, "I'm only going to ask you this once Harvey, and I need you to ask yourself this internally. You don't have to answer me out loud. Are you a man of honor? Of your word? Do you want to stand for something, or fall for anything? Because right now, as I am looking at you, I can see you are falling at a rate at which the lifeline I am offering may break from the force of the fall. I need you to put the breaks and start to climb back. I need you to look inside yourself, whatever these demons are that are holding you back, and decide if you want to fight for your life? Booze and easy women will only take the sting away for so long before you wake up at rock bottom and have lost everything."

Harvey just silently eyed Jessica.

She observed his eyes full of sadness, regret, and self-pity of the mess he put himself into. But there was something else in his eyes. Guilt? Loneliness? Brokenness?

Jessica had already explained many times to Harvey that whole point of Harvard was to become a greatest strategic thinker in their touch bases. Because Harvey had already had the rationale, intelligence, common sense, and logic as natural gifts, and Jessica knew these skills could not be taught. They were ingrained in a person right down to the DNA.

Harvey knew that the Doctorate from Harvard would only legitimize his raw talents. That, paired with his charm, charisma and likeability, he knew, deep down, with Jessica's reinforcement he could be destined for success. But for some reason, he had lost his way. He had lost faith, even though Jessica had always been there in the background, mentoring him on the way up.

Harvey could only keep his eyes on hers for just a moment before he leaned on his open thighs and reached for another cigarette in his state of anxiety and realization, offering Jessica one in the process.

They lit up and sat in silence for a few beats before she calmly and poignantly offered, "Chase the dream Harvey, not the thrill."

"I owe you an apology, Jessica. I didn't mean to disappoint you."

"I know. Why do you think I am here?"

"To collect an apology and bragging rights?"

"Don't get cute!"

"Geez, you don't let up, not even for a well timed joke. How about a movie quote?"

"Are you done?"

Harvey nodded, knowing she was in no mood to joke. Jessica was weirdly the most laidback, generous and kind person he knew, but reversely she was also the most intensely wound-up, meticulously cut-throat and focused individual he had ever laid eyes on.

She was a walking dichotomy sometimes, and a tad bit dangerous.

When Jessica had her eyes on her mark, its like she could not retract the figurative claws or fangs until the deed was done and she could again focus on the next target. But she was so quiet about it. That's what made her so dangerous. Jessica also had this unique ability to sense and shift through the energies around her. She could read a room and gauge a situation like no one he had ever met. She knew how to diffuse or amplify a room like ring master without the podium. Harvey noticed this trait because Jessica was the only person who could tame the beast of his ego within him and humble him to approach his methods from a different angle. To Harvey, it seemed like Jessica was the only person who could help Harvey clear the slate long enough to see past his inner anxieties. Having her in the flesh always did things to him and for him.

"I uh… know its no excuse, but I've just been dealing with some stuff at home, and the pressure just went up another hundred degrees this semester and I lost it...temporarily. But I promise I will get it back Jessica. In our next touch base I will square it away. It won't happen again. You have my word."

"Good. Harvey, you have to work twice as hard to have even a percentage of what they have. You have to be extraordinary, not just good. Good isn't good enough, in the real world. Trust me on this one. It's painful sacrifice; its agonizing shifts in principle and values; its putting everything to the side to get to the end game; its leaving people behind; it's the brutal exercise of working your demons out in the courtroom or in the moves you make to bend people to your will. That's where you will work out all that plagues you. Just like in the real world, gun slinging and bullshit will only take you so far here are Harvard. You need to learn that now and not fall into their traps of weeding out the weak. Because you are NOT weak, because I am NOT weak."

"Who's they?"

Jessica let out an all-knowing huff of a laugh as she inhaled the cigarette in her hand as she sat back and exhaled, 'Men like Gordon, Schmitt and Van Dyke' she wanted to say out loud so badly, but ever the class-act she kept it to herself.

Daniel Hardman, her ally and mentor showed her the list when he promoted her to Junior Partner (the youngest female Junior Partner at the firm) and cemented Jessica's loyalty and trust just a few short months ago. The ugly world became that much darker that day when she saw that starred asterisk by her name, and all the weight of what it meant. All of her hard work… second in her class at Harvard, Editor of the law review, her esteemed clerkship, not to mention all her scholarships in her undergrad and private schools before that, ALL now had a star beside it, like some footnote to her legacy.

Yes her father was an esteemed surgeon in Cleveland, heading up state of the art cardio research, and her mother a small business owner who was now New York society's messiah of catering and event planning, but even as a child in her advanced aptness Jessica knew that money was tight for a resident surgeon and small business owner. All the resources pooled into the necessities for the family and then into her mother's business. Jessica knew what sacrifice was, and she knew all the money her parents made went to the greater good of the family.

Both her parents were such driven individuals that it ultimately saw the demise of their marriage; they left each other behind to pursue their passions as individuals. Their marriage didn't stand a chance, because of who they were as people. And as a sixteen-year-old girl, when her parents divorced, Jessica grew up quickly seeing the world for what it was as a consequence of her parents' actions.

From that moment, Jessica realized that she never needed to rely on her parents, or on anyone for that matter, because she worked so hard that she never had to ask for a penny for her education from her parents. She did it all on her own, raw talent and brilliance. Her parents only knew she existed when it came time to celebrate her achievements, as proof of their greatness. But Jessica knew better. And in those moments, she honed her power and learned how to use her superpower to excel and advance, never having to wait for anyone or anything.

That was the sacrifice and the battle of the demons of loneness, jealousy and wrath Jessica worked through everyday on the inside when she worked case. She was always trying to outdo her last success, because it was never good enough in her mind. Jessica competed with herself, every goddamn day and it was exhausting sometimes. She would tell herself there was always a bigger settlement to make, a bigger deal, or a more underhanded move to outdo the other side.

Jessica fought for what she carried on her shoulders for years. She fought for the little girl who had no choice but to raise her younger sister, who as a child herself was responsible for another life when her parents were too busy to have worry about any sense of normalcy or routine for their young girls. They were never home, and yet somehow everything around the house got done. Jessica was so responsible in her young age that her parents never gave her a second thought. Jessica picked up Leah everyday after school, would take her to her scheduled extra circulars, fed her and helped Leah with her homework before she even started her own.

Jessica fought for that little girl who knew, even before her own mother, that her father was unfaithful to his family with a fellow resident doctor when she had visited her father one day as a surprise on his birthday at his place of work at the hospital. Unknowingly, Jessica and Harvey had that demon in common.

Jessica fought for that little girl who simply grew up too damn fast.

But at the same time, Jessica was so thankful for every experience in her young life because even as a young lady, she saw the big picture of who she wanted to be, what she wanted to do, and how she never wanted to rely on anyone or anything but herself. She wanted to be great, where no one would ever ignore her and who she was, ever again.

With driven parents, came driven children. And in all the sacrifice of her parents and of her own experiences, Jessica poured into her days at Harvard and everyday she showed up to the office, justifying that none of it was in vain. She would never squander her gift or her merit of hard work and where she came from.

Now sitting across from Harvey, as she moved to sit on his sturdy vintage coffee table, Jessica decided to give Harvey a life lesson as someone who also came from a humble, working-class roots, and who didn't know this world of the elite and their system.

The recent revelation of the asterisk reignited Jessica's focus; her need and her want to one day destroy those assholes because no one willfully took from Jessica Pearson, and if she could mold an ally in Harvey to stand up and fight the good fight, well she was sure as hell going to give him the same running start.

"Rich, privileged men who's world this all belongs too. It starts here, Harvey. Before this, they were pampered children of other rich men. You and I had to leverage natural born talent and intelligence to even walk through the doors, never mind the grind to turn the marble into a masterpiece. You have no allies here. They have mommy and daddy and mommy and daddy's bank accounts to fall back on. But you have something else Harvey. You have me. You can choose to look at me as a benefactor; or a shareholder whom you are responsible to; or a pain in your ass; or even your future boss who you are currently clocking in for unpaid. Or you can choose to see me as your mentor to guide you through these treacherous waters. Because make no mistake, the rest of them, well, they're just snakes in the grass ready to strike when suits them best. Remember you are on their territory. I will never placate you. I will push you and help you get the running start, but the sprint is up to you when they start to chase you. You may be the hunter, but this is their grassland. You do what you have to do to survive. Don't fall into the lured traps of distraction in their jungle-their parties, their booze, their drugs, their women and their trickery. You and I are the same in spirit, Harvey. The odds are always against us and they always will be. You need to pull it together or they will chew you up and spit you out and then wipe the corners of their mouths with their silk napkins. Do you understand?"

Jessica just watched how her words began to crank through his features. Harvey's brows furrowed gradually with every word from Jessica's mouth and there was an unconscious nod processing her words as he rubbed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as the tension and weight of her words began to sink in. None of this was flippant or a game to Jessica, and quickly the same sentiment began to reflect in Harvey. Her ability to persuade her point, and manner of her arguments was spell binding. It was like Jessica's words danced under the veil which shielded Harvey's eyes and ripped it away like a strong gust of wind.

"I uh…I get it, Jessica. It won't happen again."

"Ok then. Now, why don't you go shower because ew! Then I can help you get your priority list together and get you re-focused and back in the game."

Jessica said as she got up and made her way to his kitchenette.

"Ok, but I need to order a pizza first. I think I am dying."

"Go now for the love of god!" Jessica yelled at him irritated all over again. She couldn't look at him anymore in that deplorable state. "I will order the pizza."

Harvey laughed as he dragged his feet to his bathroom door. When she yelled at him, he strangely liked it, it made him laugh because of her attitude but also it made him feel like she really cared. And just before Harvey went into the bathroom, he offered in a soft and appreciative tone, "Jessica, thank you."

"Don't thank me yet. You still need to clean your place before we get started because I am afraid it may be a biohazard or at least next in line to be condemned. You didn't get a little yellow paper adhered to your door did you?" Jessica sarcastically continued as she scrunched her nose as she piled up the empty pizza boxes on the counters and corralled all the empty beer bottles within her reach with a disgusted look on her face.

"Hey!"

Jessica looked up at see Harvey genuinely smiling at her, her muse filled with new life as he repeated easily, "I mean it. Thank you, Jessica."

Jessica smiled back at him and gave him an acknowledging nod, knowing he cared so much more than he even led on. This guy had the potential of the world in him, she was never more sure of anything in her life. There was something about Harvey. Jessica knew now more than ever, she made the best decision of her life believing in him.

And just as Jessica's expression could be soft and kind, she could flip on a switch back to domineering and hard as she forcefully urged him, "Go Harvey! Now!"

"Alright, Alright…" Harvey laughed to himself as he pulled his t-shirt off, giving Jessica an insight as to what was underneath all it after all as he shut the door behind him. Harvey lacked nothing on the outside, of that she was clear after his subtle peacocking session. Harvey was ripped, enough that she could feel the blush rise to her face as she let out a sight of relief that the bathroom door was now shut.

But on the inside, Jessica still had some work to do on her masterpiece.

"By the way, you said girlfriend. Scottie's not my girlfriend!" Harvey hollered from inside the bathroom, to which Jessica huffed a laugh and bit her lip and responded with, "I don't hear that water running. Don't make me come in there!"

*~*THE END*~*

[A/N: Thank you for the read and interest in the wrap up of this series. I posted a BONUS CHAPTER! The context of the bonus was meant for the Lust chapter (Chapter 6) but it was way too fluffy and humorous to fit with the tone I ended up going with so it now lives on its own as "cut scene" or "Easter egg" as they say in the business. What are you waiting for, Click Next and ENJOY! I bid you lovely readers adieu! Until next time]