hi guys! okay so i'm back and i can't tell you how sorry i am for not updating anything in like forever! school and exams had taken over my life but my summer holidays start on Wednesday (thank God) so i plan on updating sooner.
i will be updating the rest of my stories as well, i will never leave anything incomplete.
i wouldn't be surprised if you guys have forgotten about this story - apart from those of you that followed recently. i hope you guys are still reading and i really hope you like this chapter - don't want to disappoint you with this one
just one thing to bare in mind, Mike is a small 11 year old. I know i've made him out to seem older and more mature but he's actually very small - i'm emphasising this now so it doesn't seem strange for Harvey to be giving Mike a piggy back :S
anyways, thanks for reading, i really hope you like this :))
CHAPTER 8
It was 4 am when Mike's eyes opened. The first thing he noticed as he sat up slightly was Harvey sprawled over the chair asleep in an awkward position. It didn't take him long to remember why Harvey was there – it was because Mike had asked him to, after he had awoken from a nightmare and cried onto Harvey. He hadn't realised just how much he needed to let out until he had started. Harvey had just put his arms around him, and that gesture was all it took for the dam to break and his withheld emotions to come flooding out. He hadn't really expected to breakdown like that – or to reveal those things to Harvey; but there was just something about the older man, Mike actually trusted him. He was beginning to wonder if it was a good idea to trust Harvey and to open up to him, for his stay with Harvey was only temporary and everyone he grew close to always ended up leaving – the more attached he got to Harvey, the more it would hurt when he left. He decided to interrupt his track of thought as he knew if he let it carry on it would bother him all night. Instead he turned to face Harvey once more and decided the man didn't look at all comfortable.
He swung his legs off his bed and reached for his crutches before making his way out of his bedroom and down the corridor to Harvey's. Pulling the duvet off the king-sized bed, he begun the difficult task of carrying it back to his room – it was his crutches making it such a difficult task as he didn't have any free hands. It was a struggle but he was soon back in his room and approaching the sleeping lawyer. He carefully covered Harvey with the duvet, ensuring that it wouldn't fall off – he was technically tucking Harvey in, which was very strange. As soon as he was done he got back into his bed and let himself drift back to sleep feeling somewhat more satisfied than before.
Harvey awoke the next day with a crick in his neck. It took him a while to realise that he wasn't in his bed but was sitting awkwardly on a chair in his office - aka Mike's makeshift bedroom. Speaking of Mike, the boy was still sound asleep and Harvey decided it was best for him to stay that way until he was well rested and woke up himself. He threw off the duvet and – wait, duvet? ... he didn't remember sleeping with a duvet ... there's no way it could've gotten there unless ... Mike. Mike must have brought it over from his bedroom. He smiled to himself at the thought of it, the kid was incredible.
It was Monday today so he would have to go into work and he was left with no choice but to bring Mike with him for he couldn't leave the kid on his own. He showered and got dressed before making some breakfast for himself and Mike. When all was done, he decided to go and wake Mike up.
"Mike," He said quietly shaking Mike's shoulder slightly. "Mike, hey kid you need to wake up."
He shook Mike once more and watched as Mike's eyes began to open.
"Morning kiddo," Harvey said with a smile as he watched Mike groan and attempt to burry himself further into the pillow.
"Morning," Mike mumbled into the pillow.
"Mike?"
"Hmmm"
"Do you want to go into work with me today?"
"What?" Mike asked quickly sitting up in bed.
"It's Monday, I need to go to the firm and I can't leave you here alone – so, do you want to come?"
"Yeah!" Mike exclaimed, his attempt to hide his eagerness having failed.
"Alright," Harvey said with a chuckle "Quickly get dressed, breakfast is made we need to leave in 20 minutes."
In a way Mike was glad that Harvey hadn't brought up last night or acted any different towards him although he felt as though he should say something; he wanted to thank Harvey and even apologise to him, for Harvey needed to realise how grateful Mike was for what he did last night and of course it must have been awkward for Harvey. The older man didn't seem the type to come and comfort 11 year old boys regularly; Harvey was a lawyer whose main focus was his reputation and his job. There was obviously a reason why Harvey wasn't married or didn't have children and it was obviously because he didn't want to – if he had it wouldn't be difficult for a man like him to find a woman. Therefore it must not be ideal for Harvey to have to deal with Mike especially with how damaged Mike was.
So when they were seated in the car, Mike decided he should say something.
"Urm, Harvey?" He started off whilst playing with his fingers.
"Yeeees?" Harvey replied turning to look at the boy.
"I just want to urm ... say thank you for last night," He said quietly looking down at his lap.
"Mike, what have I said to you about thanking me?" Harvey asked him "I've told you that you don't need to. I am your guardian now which means I'm supposed to be looking after you and doing all of this."
"But still Harvey, you didn't have too and I'm sorry if –"
"Stop right there. You're not finishing that sentence," Harvey told him "There's absolutely nothing to be sorry for, do you understand?"
Mike's blue eyes met Harvey's stern brown ones and he nodded.
"Good, I don't want you to be worrying about it now." Harvey told him.
Mike breathed a silent breath off relief; it lifted the weight off his shoulders now he knew Harvey didn't mind his breakdown.
They had been driving for almost half an hour and Harvey was beginning to grow fed up. To make things worse, Harvey's phone buzzed to show a text from Jessica.
I need to fill you in before your meeting with Luke Whiston in 15 minutes ... where are you?
Harvey cursed as he realised he had completely forgotten about the meeting. Luke was Jessica's client which made things even worse as he knew how pissed Jessica would be if he was late or missed the meeting – he was a multi-million dollar client whose case Jessica had handed over to Harvey with strict orders not to mess it up
"Ray," Harvey called out to his driver "How long?"
"Sorry Harvey, this traffic is terrible! It will be another half hour at minimum." Ray told his boss with a remorseful tone.
Harvey sighed in frustration. Great he thought to himself, he was really screwed.
"I think we'll walk the rest of the way," Harvey told his driver.
"Okay then Harvey, I'm sorry about this,"
"You can't control the traffic Ray; it's not your fault." Harvey told him with a small chuckle.
"C'mon Mike," He said as he opened his own door and stepped out.
He didn't actually mind walking, he sometimes decided to walk instead of getting driven as it cleared his head – he found it peaceful.
The streets of New York were extremely busy as they frequently were the majority of the time but particularly during the mornings. There was just as much pedestrian traffic as there was on the road – which was extremely unfortunate for Mike who was trying to maintain his balance when being pushed and shoved by people rushing past – the fact that he was small didn't exactly work in his favour. It would have been okay if he had been walking at a decent pace but his speed began to decrease as after fast walking for a while, his legs began to hurt. He should have told Harvey to slow down but he didn't want to be an inconvenience particularly as Harvey was running late.
He probably should have told Harvey.
They had just turned a corner when a man who also seemed to be running late for work also came around the bend and shoved forcefully past Mike. He stumbled slightly on his feet and would have recovered except his crutch slipped causing him to fall roughly to the fall.
Whether it was the sound of Mike falling, or the sudden movement of people away from the area to avoid walking on top of Mike, Harvey noticed something was wrong and turned around to see Mike on the floor struggling to get up.
He quickly rushed over and knelt down beside the boy.
"Shit, Mike," Harvey placed gentle yet firm hands on Mike's shoulders to help him off the floor slightly "Hey, are you okay buddy?"
Mike bit his lip but nodded, his face a slight shade of red as he saw everyone watching.
"Alright let's get you up," Harvey said softly as he placed an arm around Mike and helped him stand. He took Mike's crutches from the floor and handed them to him before leading him to a nearby bench.
"Are you alright?" Harvey asked him once again when they were seated on the bench.
Mike nodded blinking back the tears that had appeared because the fall had hurt like hell. His legs had fallen awkwardly and they were now burning in pain.
"Mike?" Harvey prompted "Hey kiddo, look at me," He instructed softly. Mike turned to look to find a pair of concerned eyes looking down at him.
"What happened?"
"Urm ... there was just a guy who walked passed me and kinda knocked me over, I just lost my balance and tripped,"
"Son of a bitch," he heard Harvey mutter under his breath "and are you hurt?"
"Not really, I'm okay, my legs just hurt but they were kinda hurting before as well so ..."
"Wait a second; your legs were hurting before?"
"Urm, yeah," Mike mumbled looking down at his hands.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"You were getting late and I didn't really want to bother you." Mike told him slightly taken aback by how bothered Harvey was by it.
He watched as Harvey stood and shook his head.
Harvey then began to look up and down the street thinking hard about something. Mike was slightly perplexed as to why they were still not leaving and what Harvey was planning to do – they were getting late after all.
Before he knew it, Harvey was crouched down on the floor in front of him.
"Urm ... Harvey? What are you doing?"
"Get on." Harvey instructed.
"I'm sorry ... what?!" was Harvey seriously asking Mike to get on his back? No, he couldn't be.
"Get on my back." Okay so maybe he was.
"No way," Mike was seriously taken aback my Harvey's request "Harvey I'm not a little kid and I'm sure I can walk it the rest of the way,"
"There's still another ten minutes to walk and there's too much traffic to get a cab now. I should have thought before asking you to walk and now you're in pain and if carrying you is the only way to avoid that then that's what I'm going to do." Harvey told him firmly as if he were negotiating a deal with another lawyer.
"Look Harvey, I appreciate your concern – I really do. But there's no way I'm making you do this," However shocked Mike was, he was also strangely touched that Harvey would be willing to do that just to put him out of pain.
"Mike, you're not making me do this, I am making you do this. And if you don't get on, then I'm lifting you bridal style because I am not having you in pain if I can help it," Harvey told him and Mike suddenly shuddered at the thought of Harvey carrying him like that "Now hurry up because my legs are getting tired, this isn't the most comfortable position you know."
Mike sighed but decided he didn't have much of an option – he wasn't really looking forward to the rest of the walk anyway.
He laced his arms round Harvey's neck and his legs around his waist. Harvey took a hold of Mike's legs and carefully stood up. Harvey knew Mike was light but he didn't expect him to be this easy to carry. He then took hold of Mike's crutches deciding it would be better for him to hold them than for Mike. Truth be told, he never in a million years thought he would ever walk down the street with a child on his back – but for some reason, he didn't mind. He knew how much pain Mike was in – even though Mike would never admit it himself – he could read it on his face. He also knew how difficult it would be for him to walk through the rush of people again.
To say Mike was embarrassed was an understatement. He was being carried by a lawyer whose reputation meant everything to him. To anyone else they would just see a father carrying his son, and that thought sent a sudden pang to his heart. His dad used to give him piggy backs when he was younger and when his dad could actually stand him. As he got older his dad began doing the same with Frank who was his next door neighbour and was also in Mike's class at school. It hurt alot to see his father playing and loving another child and not his own son. Mike would watch from his bedroom window as his father and Frank would play catch in the garden, wishing that one day he had someone who would love him the way his father loved Frank.
His musings were interrupted as they arrived at the firm. Harvey nodded at the security guard who didn't even ask Harvey for his ID. Mike blushed a shade of red as he saw everyone giving him weird looks.
"Harvey," He hissed into Harvey's ear "Please put me down now."
"I will do when we get to my office," Harvey told him and carried on walking.
All the employees of Pearson Hardman turned and watched with widened eyes and mouths hung open as The Great Harvey Specter, their best closer, strolled into the offices with a small boy on his back. Harvey Specter was one who gave a huge importance to his appearance and his reputation, he was respected and admired by many people – and also feared by most. He was a man of wealth and didn't appear to have much of a personal life, no one had heard of any relationships he had been in and those who had knew they hadn't lasted long. This was why is was completely out of the norm for the great closer to be walking in to work with a child – let alone a child on his back.
Nevertheless, Harvey strolled through in his usual confident demeanour ignoring those who looked and shooting glares at those who stared or whispered. He was almost at the safety of his office when a certain Louis Litt appeared in vision and began walking rapidly besides Harvey.
Harvey groaned inwardly.
"Good morning, Harvey," Louis greeted in his nasally voice.
"I don't really know about the good part Louis, you kind of ruined it by your presence," Louis snorted in response but carried on walking.
"What's that on you back?"
"That is a boy and his name is Mike," Harvey told him with a sigh as he approached Donna's desk.
"But urm ... that's my question, why do you have a boy called Mike on your back?"
"That is none of your business." Harvey told him and walked into his office leaving Donna to deal with Louis.
Harvey placed Mike down onto his couch and noticed Mike was still red, clearly still embarrassed.
"You just had the unfortunate experience of meeting Louis Litt," Harvey told Mike deciding to change the atmosphere a little bit.
"Is he always like that?"
"Oh that was nothing, he's usually worse," Harvey said smirking and shaking his head "Just stay away from him."
"Well he won't be bothering you for a while now," They both looked up to see Donna stroll in, a triumphant grin on her face.
"Good because I was dreading the mountain load of questions he was going to pester me with." Harvey said as he began to throw his baseball into the air and catch it.
"Hey Mike," She said sweetly going to join the boy on the couch. "How are you doing?"
"Hi Donna, I'm okay," He replied clearly feeling comfortable around Donna.
"So what happened on the way here?" Both boys looked up at her and Harvey could see Mike beginning to redden up again.
Donna observed them both and 'ahhh'd' in realisation before giving Mike a sad smile.
"I see, you're not hurt are you Mike?" Mike looked over at Harvey in shock before turning to Donna again.
"Urm ... no, I'm okay thanks Donna," He told her still extremely confused.
"That's good, I'll get you some books to read or you could maybe look through some cases we've turned down if you like." She stood and strode out of the office.
"I would get used to it if I were you," Harvey told Mike at seeing his expression.
Harvey soon left to see Jessica about the meeting with Luke Whiston, leaving Mike with Donna who had returned with books and other stuff for Mike to do.
"Harvey," Jessica greeted him as he walked into her office "It's nice of you to turn up,"
"Got caught up in traffic," He said collapsing onto her couch.
"Mmhmm, now are you up to date with Mr Whiston's case?"
"Course I am,"
"Good because I need you to bring your a-game for this one,"
"When don't I bring my a-game?"
Jessica just smirked as she sat down at her desk. Her phone began to ring and she picked it up answering "Jessica Pearson,"
"He is? Okay, thank you." She said to the other person on the line and hung up.
"There's no time to sit, Luke is in conference room B," She told Harvey who in turn stood up "You sure you don't need me in there with you?"
"I'm sure I can survive without you,"
"Well you better, I'll catch up with you after the meeting,"
True to her word, Jessica caught Harvey just as he left the room finishing off the meeting.
"How'd it go?"
"Fine," Harvey told her with a frown "I don't need you looking over me like that; I'm perfectly capable of handling this myself,"
"Just wanted to make sure you're focused,"
"Course I am, why wouldn't I be?" He said as they approached Harvey's office. Jessica didn't fail to notice how Harvey stopped a distance away from his office rather than walk directly outside it.
"Well, I don't know," She said suspiciously as she begun to walk towards his office "I just heard something about you having a boy called Mike with you today,"
Harvey clenched his jaw slightly as he already began thinking of ways of getting back at Louis.
"I mean obviously I didn't think it was true," She was now stood directly outside his office. "Because why would Harvey Specter out of all people have a child with him – and not just because it is against the firm's policies and the bylaws which Louis wrote, but because as far as I'm aware you don't have any children and you're not exactly babysitter material. But it turns out my judgement wasn't correct." She concluded as she was now stood in the entrance of his office looking down at Mike who hadn't noticed her arrival.
"Jessica-"
"Explain." She turned to face him again and this time Mike had noticed the two of them standing outside.
But just as Harvey was about to justify Mike's presence, Donna spoke up.
"Jessica, I just got a call from Stacey from the front desk, she says a Mr Matthews is here to see you – he says it's urgent."
Jessica just shook her head and added "We're talking about this later" Before leaving.
"You didn't make that up did you?" Harvey asked Donna, slightly relieved.
"Course not, I couldn't lie to the managing partner," She said not taking her eyes off her screen.
"But Mr Matthews was on his way out; there was nothing he wanted to talk about. How-"
"I gave him something to talk about," She said flicking her hair off her shoulder "Don't worry, I was careful – I didn't do anything too bad."
He shook his head with a smirk and walked into his office.
"Who was that?" Mike asked from his position on the couch.
"That was Jessica Pearson,"
"Jessica what?! Pearson ... as in 'Pearson Hardman' Pearson?"
"The one and only,"
"What was she doing? She kept on staring at me!"
"She wanted to know what the hell you're doing here," Harvey flipped open his laptop and began to start working again.
"And what did you tell her?"
"I didn't get a chance to, Donna saved me,"
"What will you tell her?"
"The truth."
"Jessica wants to see you in her office," Donna sang through the intercom and Harvey groaned before standing and making his way out.
"Don't look at me like that; I'm the one who brought you some time." She said in response to his glare.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Jessica stood from her chair and made her way around her desk at seeing him walk in. She was pissed – but he didn't know why.
"Excuse me?"
"When I told you, you need to bring your a-game, I meant it!" She said approaching him. "I have been emphasising the importance of this goddamn case to you since the day I assigned it!"
"Jessica, I have no idea what you're talking about," Because really, he had no idea what he had done to piss her off this much. "You need to calm down."
"Calm down?!" She let out a humourless laugh. "You're telling me to calm down after I receive a phone call from Luke threatening to leave the firm because his own company fired him this morning; and do you know why they did that? Because the goddamn paperwork hadn't been filed!"
He closed his eyes and cursed himself. How could he forget? He had been meaning to file it but he had been so busy with Mike and the Beech Tree House case it had completely slipped his mind.
"Jessica, I-"
"And then I come to find we had taken on a child abuse case pro bono. And I knew I hadn't authorised it, so when I went to check I found the case had been taken on by you. Now at first I didn't believe it because why would you out of all people taken on a pro bono – I mean I had to force you to take on the care home one – which, for the record, I am still waiting for you to win – but everyone knows that you despise pro bonos. So that leads nicely to the question: why have you taken on a child abuse case, pro bono, when I specifically told you to divert all your focus onto this case?" She crossed her arms and tilted her head slightly, leaning against her desk waiting for an answer.
"I thought it would be an easy one to win, and you're the one who's always encouraging us to take on pro bonos so I thought I'd take one on myself," He said with a shrug, knowing from her face that Jessica was not buying it.
"Bullshit." She leaned away from her desk and began walking towards him again. "You know how long child abuse cases can take – and this isn't an easy one to win, you don't have much evidence and I know how damn good the lawyer on the other side is. Now since you're not going to tell me the real reason, drop the case."
"I'm not doing it." He told her straight up.
"Excuse me?!"
"I said, I'm not dropping the case."
"Oh yes you are, because the way things work here, I tell you what to do – it's not the other way around."
"Jessica, I don't care what happens I am not dropping that case." There was no way on earth he would drop it. "I can work on all three cases – and win all three."
"I know you can, but I am not taking any chances, I don't want your focus diverted somewhere else. So you either drop that goddamn case yourself, or I will."
"If you do that then I will drop Luke's case and any other ones you tell me to take on." He didn't care that he was pushing it with her, there was just no way he was dropping the case.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" She laughed indecorously at what she viewed as stupidity.
"I mean it." He said sternly meeting her strong gaze.
"Fine, I'll let you keep the case as long as you assign it to someone else."
"Nope. I am handling that case myself."
"Harvey!" She exclaimed growing increasingly frustrated. "What the hell is wrong with you?! First you bring some kid into work and have him kept in your office, and then you take on some stupid pro bono and stubbornly refuse to get rid of it! And on top of all that, you forget that I'm your boss and that you're not the only goddamn lawyer at this firm that I can get to handle any case I wish,"
"Jess-"
"Now I don't appreciate being told what to do or being disobeyed, so for one, you will get that kid – whoever the hell he is – out of my firm and then you will carry on with Luke's case whilst I go and drop this nuisance pro bono you've taken on."
"You can tell me to do whatever the hell you want but I am not doing either one of those things!" He could feel himself getting heated up now.
"What did you just say to me?"
"You heard me, you may be my boss but I'm not your puppet and I can do whatever the hell I want to!"
"Harv-"
"And you wanna know who that kid is? His name is Mike and I've fostered him," Oh the look on her face. "He lived at the care home before it shut down and then moved in with a family who abused him worse than you can imagine. So that's the case I'm taking on and I don't care what you say, I'm not backing down until I sue the shit out of them – hell I will even sway the jury towards the death penalty!" His breaths were coming out heavy and his face was slightly red with his jaw tightened. His eyes were shimmering slightly with unfamiliar emotion.
Jessica studied him for a while before placing a hand on his upper arm. "Sit down." She told him gently before leading him to the couch.
"Explain." She said quietly, and although he had given her a rough – quite shocking – overview, he began to explain everything to her from the first time he met Mike to present day.
Jessica nodded as he finished off. "So how long is he staying with you for?"
"Just as long as the care home stays shut."
"And how are you ... coping?" Harvey was the last person she expected to have fostered a child but she knew that if he had made the decision of doing it, then he would do it properly.
"Fine so far, he's eleven years old – it's not that difficult." He didn't mention how hard it had been with Mike's emotional breakdown and how hard it had been on him to see Mike so hurt.
"Hmmm ... and are you sure you can handle it?" She appeared to be slightly cautious asking the question.
"Course I can, why wouldn't I be able to?" He knew what she meant but he wanted to ask anyway.
"I mean you haven't done anything like it before, and you're not exactly the type of guy anyone would expect to have a kid,"
"He's not my kid," Harvey corrected her. "He's just staying with me for a while."
She just nodded at that.
"If you need me to, I will act as co-counsel on the case." She told him sincerely.
"Thanks, Jessica." They nodded at each other and he stood to leave.
"Harvey," He turned around as he approached the door. "How bad was it?" Her question was answered before he even opened his mouth. The look in his eyes, the darkness and anger that flashed through them said it all. But there was also sadness, sadness she saw by the way he swallowed hard and lowered his gaze before he looked back at her.
"It was bad." The three words told her alot, because if Harvey thought it was bad, then it was really bad. If Harvey had suddenly developed emotions (he couldn't even deny it) for an eleven year old boy, then it really must have been bad.
"You better go win this goddamn case," A small smile at her lips and a twinkle in her eyes was enough for him to know she was proud of him – even though she would seldom say it.
He gave a smile back before leaving.
The rest of the day passed smoothly until Harvey left the office for a meeting and Donna went to pee, leaving Louis the perfect opportunity.
Mike was sat on the couch reading one of Harvey's law books – neither Harvey nor Donna could get their heads around why an eleven year old boy would leisurely read something Law school students would be forced to read. He looked up at feeling another presence in the room.
"Hi Mike," Louis said grinning down at him showing more teeth than were necessary.
"Urm ... hi," Mike felt slightly uncomfortable and wished Harvey was here.
"What're you doing, Mike?"
"What does it look like I'm doing?" Mike snapped glaring at him, deciding it were best if he showed Louis his bitter side rather than his nervous one.
Louis frowned and shuffled on his feet slightly before letting out a chuckle.
"What are you doing here?" This time Mike frowned. "With Harvey, what are you doing here with Harvey?"
"It's none of your business." He told him and began to act engrossed in his book.
"Where are your parents?"
Mike suddenly flinched and swallowed the lump in his throat.
"You're not very responsive are you?" Louis asked with a humourless chuckle. "Did your parents just ditch you here with Harvey?"
Mike grinded his teeth. "Piss off." He hissed causing Louis to raise his eyebrows in surprise.
"Well kid, your parents didn't teach you any manners did they?" Louis began walking closer towards Mike and the boy decided to capitalize the opportunity.
His crutch was on the floor beside him, he suddenly kicked it out just as Louis stepped forward. Before he even knew what hit him, Louis tripped on the crutch and went flying onto the floor.
Mike didn't even try to suppress the smile that was tugging at his lips.
Louis growled slightly as he lifted himself off the floor.
"You cheeky little son of a bitch." Louis began to approach Mike once again, "You think it's funny?!" His raised voice caused Mike's smile to suddenly disappear.
He saw the way Louis was approaching him in anger and immediately began to push himself backwards into the couch.
"Who do you think you are?!" His hand was on the arm rest of the couch and his face was just inches away from Mike's.
Mike began to feel the panic flare up from inside of him. His eyes began to well up and his breaths began to come out shorter and more rapidly.
And in that moment, Mike was sure Louis was going to hit him.
"Louis!" A voice broke out from behind them. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" An arm yanked Louis violently away from Mike.
Mike tried to calm himself down as he saw Harvey was now here, but he just couldn't.
"Harvey, I-I-" Louis stuttered and looked scared out of his skin.
"You what, huh?!" Harvey shoved Louis hard causing him to almost fall onto the floor again. With another push, Harvey drew back his fist as if to punch him before Donna appeared.
"Harvey!" She called out and he immediately turned to look at her. He lowered his fist but carried on glaring at Louis. The white hot anger he was suddenly feeling a second ago had cooled very slightly.
"Louis, you better get your sorry ass out of here before I do something that I won't regret – but you definitely will after the hefty medical bill you'll be faced with after!" His voice was still loud and angry and Louis instantly rushed out of the room.
"Harvey," Donna said quietly tapping his arm. She gestured towards Mike who was sitting on the couch and appeared to be having what looked like a panic attack, Harvey's shouting and bout of violence having done nothing but worsen Mike's panic.
Harvey hurried forward and knelt down in front of the small boy.
"Mike," He said quietly placing both hands on the boys shoulders. "Look at me, Mike." He instructed.
Mike just couldn't meet Harvey's eyes. His breathing wasn't working and he felt nothing but terror.
"Mike," Harvey said slightly more softly this time. "Hey buddy, you're okay." Donna blinked back the tears that were appearing as she watched a side of Harvey she had never seen before.
"I just need you to breathe with me, can you do that kiddo?" Harvey cupped Mike's face to make him look directly at Harvey. "We're going to breathe together now, okay Mike?" Mike's panic filled blue orbs met Harvey's concerned ones and he vaguely nodded.
"Okay, deep breaths now," Harvey told him and began to exaggerate his breathing so Mike would follow. Mike put all of his focus onto Harvey as the older man gently stroked his cheek with his thumb. "You're okay now, just take it easy."
It took a while but eventually Mike managed to calm down slightly – Harvey's comfort being the only reason for it.
"You okay now, Mike?" Harvey stood from his crouch in front of Mike and instead went to sit next to him on the couch.
"Yeah ... I ... I don't really know why-I-I – I just kinda freaked out, I'm sorry," He put his head down and took a few breaths.
"It's okay; it's not your fault." His eyes grew angry again and he went to stand up before Donna stopped him.
"No." She told him firmly and pushed him back down onto the couch. "I'll do it."
She then strode out of the office and proceeded to Louis's office to do what Harvey had intended to do. However, she knew that if Harvey had done it there would be more action and no words and that wouldn't have turned out well.
And apparently Donna had gotten the message across quite clearly, as a few hours later, Louis was lingering outside Harvey's office having spoken to Donna about why he was there.
He knocked hesitantly on the door and Mike immediately shrunk back after seeing who it was.
"What the hell are you doing here, Louis?" Harvey stood from his chair.
"I-I ... I just want to speak to Mike,"
"Well that's not happening, so how about you get the hell out of here!" He walked around his desk.
"Harvey, please! I just want to apologise!" Harvey would have shoved him out if he didn't sound so genuine. He looked over at Donna who nodded at him.
"You have two minutes – if Mike doesn't mind." Harvey looked at Mike and raised his eyebrows as if to ask if he was okay with it, he received a shrug and a slight nod in return.
"Mike, I'm sorry about earlier, I shouldn't have come in here like that and I definitely shouldn't have gotten angry at you," Harvey watched with a smirk on his face as Louis apologised.
"Its fine, I probably shouldn't have tripped you up – and I shouldn't have freaked out the way I did,"
"Hey, you had every right to act the way you did." They briefly smiled at each other.
"So ... we're good?" Louis asked him.
"Yeah, we're good."
"Well, just to make sure we really are good," Louis reached into his pocket and pulled an envelope out. "I found out you were a Harry Potter fan, so I got you tickets to the premier that is happening here in New York for the new movie." He handed Mike the envelope feeling incredibly proud of himself as he saw the shocked expression on the kid's face.
"What?!" Mike opened up the envelope and pulled out the tickets. "This is awesome! How did you even know I liked Harry Potter?!" Louis just tapped his nose as Mike grinned larger than he had in a long time.
"They're front row for next Saturday when Harvey has a day off work too, I'm sure Harvey will have a great time too,"
"Thanks Louis!" Mike exclaimed and Louis gave him a small before nodding at Harvey and leaving the office. Harvey knew that Louis had found out everything and he also knew that he would never hear the end of it.
Mike was bursting with energy as they were on their way out of the firm. He apparently hadn't been to see a movie in the cinemas in years let alone even dream if going to a premier.
Ray was waiting for them outside and as they approached the car, Jessica was also stood by her own car, waiting for them.
"Hi, you must be Mike," She greeted him surprisingly warmly as she came to stand in front if them. "I'm Jessica Pearson."
"Hi, Jessica," Mike replied in a small voice slightly nerved by the fact he was standing in front of a managing partner of the law firm.
"It's nice to meet you, Mike." She smiled at him before turning to Harvey. "Harvey, I need a quick word." Harvey got Mike sat down in the car before focusing his attention back on her.
"What's the matter?"
"Your case is weak,"
"Sorry?"
"You have virtually no evidence, at the moment it's just your word against theirs."
"I'm not doing it." Harvey told her having figured out where she was taking this.
"Harvey you-"
"Jessica, I am not in any way getting that kid involved. I wanted to keep him away from those people I don't want him to ever be even a miles distance of them."
"Fine, although it could easily win you the case, you don't have to get him to testify if you really don't want to, but you at least need medical reports ... that's if he ..." She left the sentence like that, not wanting to directly ask whether Mike's body had been left with any signs of abuse.
"I'll get the records, but there's no way he's testifying."
Mike was his responsibility now and there was no way he would fail his duty to protect him.
Thank you so much for reading! I really really hope you liked it and that you are still reading this, it means alot :)
If you have any suggestions or ideas for what could happen next or anything you would like to see in this story, then please let me know - I would love to hear your ideas :)
Once again, sorry for taking so long to update and thanks for reading!
Would love some reviews! :)
