Thanks everyone for the wonderful reviews and to those of you who have favorited this story and are following it! Just remember, lurkers, it's okay to drop me a line. I'm very friendly. ;D A big thanks, as always, to the lovely EvavH, for not only betaing, but for continuously pestering me to work on this. Thank you dear. Always a pleasure!
"You're sure it's okay?" Mike asked Harvey nervously, shifting in his cheap casual clothes.
Harvey rolled his eyes. "I already said it was. I want you to come."
It had been day two of Mike moving his things in, living out of the spare room. The first day, Mike had simply stayed there again, bored out of his mind. And when Harvey had caught him watching Say Yes to the Dress, screaming at the television, he had decided this wouldn't work. It was driving them both crazy. Mike was bored and his amazing intellect and memory were being wasted. And Harvey was in a constant state of worry about him.
So the solution was to take Mike to work with him. And he knew the kid had no suits, but he'd dug up some of his nicer clothing-button-up shirts and jeans that amazingly didn't have holes in them. And Harvey had ignored Mike's protests about buying him clothing and brought home a pair of new sneakers for him. Designer ones. All in all, the kid looked good, if not anywhere near professional.
Mike was clearly uncomfortable with this solution, but he clearly didn't want to stay inside forever, and when Harvey had inquired again about his job, Mike had evaded once more. So he let it go again, though he hadn't forgotten about it.
Harvey straightened his tie and pulled the front door open, eyes scanning the hallway to make sure it was safe. They hadn't seen Scott, and according to Mike, the man was never up before nine, so they'd never run into him this way. But Harvey would prefer to avoid the man. He was both worried about what it would do to Mike, and about what Harvey would do to Scott. He wanted to murder the man.
"Now, hurry up, before we're late," Harvey said, tugging on Mike's hand and pulling him all the way to the elevator.
Mike didn't let go of Harvey's hand and Harvey didn't want to let it go either, so he just held onto it. It was the kind of thing he would normally find awkward, but it somehow was comfortable.
They made it into the office without any incidents and Harvey guided Mike to his office, the kid's eyes wide and full of awe the whole time. It made Harvey want to grin, but he was at work, so he settled for an amused smirk. "Come on, I'll get someone to show you around later."
Mike nodded silently.
They made it to Donna's desk, eyes following the strange pair the whole way there. It must have been a strange sight to see: Harvey Specter, immaculately dressed in thousands of dollars of Tom Ford, and Mike Ross, raggedy looking and wide eyed beside him.
"Harvey, your messages," Donna said to him, handing him slips of paper. "Also, Jessica wants to see you in her office." She gave him the look he knew meant things weren't good. Harvey frowned, but delayed hearing the bad news by pointing at Mike. "This is Mike Ross. Mike, this is Donna. She's my assistant."
"And so much more," Donna assured Mike, holding out her hand which he took lightly and shook it a little. "Hi, uh, sorry about...before..."
Harvey blinked in confusion before remembering that Mike had managed to get past Donna once, and not many people did that and lived to tell the tale.
But she just smiled at him. "Forgiven and forgotten."
"Mike, you can stay in here. I'll be right back. Don't wander off," Harvey warned and headed off to Jessica's.
"I'm not a child," Mike said and stepped in Harvey's office, already pawing everything in wonder.
…
Harvey returned from Jessica's, annoyed and upset. He'd have to tell Mike their dinner plans were cancelled. He'd be here all day looking through files for what he needed. He could assign an associate or a paralegal, but Jessica had told him that Louis was currently on a case and he needed all-hands, so Harvey was on his own. He'd managed to get Rachel on board but that was all.
He came back into his office to find Mike gone. He tried very hard to not panic and opened his mouth to ask Donna if she'd seen him.
"Is he always like that?" Mike's voice said suddenly as Harvey's door opened. And the blond was there with Rachel, smiling and looking strangely confident and different from what Harvey was used to. It was nice to see, something almost rare. And he realized that maybe this was good; it was the way Mike should look, and probably had looked before Scott had stripped him raw.
"Ohhh," Rachel said with a little laugh. "That was him being nice." She looked up, surprised to find Harvey already back. "Mr. Specter, I was just showing Mike around."
Mike had noticed the large amount of files that littered Harvey's coffee table, boxes stacked around chaotically. "Let me guess," he sighed. "You're working late tonight."
"We are," Harvey corrected. "Rachel and I, anyway. You're going to not get into any trouble and read a book or something."
Mike frowned at him, but didn't protest. Rachel looked confused but went to the boxes. "What are we looking for?"
Harvey noticed Mike's unease at being pushed to the side. But while Harvey had offered him a job, he wasn't technically allowed to help yet. He sent him an apologetic look. "We need proof that Dennis Gambry wasn't the first employee to be injured. And we need ones who weren't under the influence at the time."
"Right," Rachel said, and heaved a large sigh before opening a box and getting to work.
Mike sat sullenly, nose buried in a book he was zipping through. Harvey kept glancing at him, trying to gauge just how annoyed and bored he was. They'd only found one other employee so far, and it was a nightmare. The records were awful and out of order, and Harvey knew those bastards had done it on purpose.
It was only when Harvey had to leave to have an emergency conference with one of his clients, Donna went to refill her coffee and use the restroom, and Rachel snuck off to grab some lunch for all of them, that Mike was actually left alone.
An hour later Harvey returned, Donna back at her desk looking somewhat concerned. "What's the matter with you?" Harvey asked curiously. "Is Louis in my office or something?"
She rolled her eyes. "You think I would put Louis in there unsupervised? I'm insulted. Oh, but Rachel went to grab us food, she'll be back in a minute. I sent her so no frowning." She glared at him and Harvey forced his frown away. "But, uh..."
Harvey felt the concern rise in the pit of his stomach. "Mike..."
He ignored Donna's protest and pulled open his office door. Mike was on the floor, eyes quickly scanning through page after page of paper, quickly sorting things into piles. There were a large number of boxes that had been added to their pile of things they'd already looked through, and Mike had not only written out a list, but he had stacked a bunch more records on Harvey's desk. He looked up at Harvey and there was a flash of defiance in his eyes before the fear swallowed it.
"I'm sorry, I was just trying to help," Mike rushed, not moving, rooted to the spot he'd claimed on the floor. "I can put it all back-"
"Mike," Harvey interrupted gently and Mike immediately cut off. "You went through nine boxes. In one hour."
Mike nodded. Harvey walked over to the pile on his desk. There were six new employees added to their list of injured, and there was another pile, slightly larger, next to it. "What are these?" he asked Mike.
"Um, they're employees who have filed complaints that the machinery was dangerous or shoddy or not properly maintained," Mike answered nervously.
Harvey frowned. "You did all this in an hour. By yourself?"
Mike nodded, looking less scared.
"How long would it take you to finish the rest of the boxes?" Harvey asked him.
"I'm not sure. Maybe...another couple hours?" Mike's expression changed to one of confusion.
Harvey smiled. "Keep working then." He sat down on the floor across from him and pulled a file out of Mike's current box, silently getting back to work.
Mike stared at him for a minute. "You're not mad."
"A little. If I'd known you could work this fast I would have had you start sooner," Harvey said, giving Mike a grin.
Mike's face lit up. "Well, it was getting painful watching you two go so slow."
"Okay, I got sushi. Hope you guys like fish," Rachel's voice said as she walked in, Donna following.
Mike gave her a grin. "What, no Chinese?"
Rachel scoffed as Donna held up Harvey's corporate card. "Not if Harvey's paying," Donna grinned.
Harvey smiled as everyone laughed. He liked the way Mike's voice sounded, liked seeing him be so good at something, liked watching the way he interacted with Rachel with confidence. It was like he was a whole person again.
Mike caught Harvey's stare as he was stuffing his mouth with a large piece of shrimp tempura. "What?" he asked, voice muffled by the food.
"Nothing," Harvey said with a grin. It looked like they were getting out of there early after all.
Sorry for the ridiculously long wait. And I know...another happy one with no villain. But he's lurking there in the shadows. I promise. ;)