A/N: The final chapter turned out to be way longer than expected, so this has become the penultimate chapter instead of the last. The end chapter is near. I hope you guys enjoy!

"You're dead to me."

Donna awoke to a vague sensation of nausea. The night before, she'd been almost excited about the day ahead. But unconsciousness brought forth all the uncertainties, unfavourable memories and 'what-ifs' that she'd been trying to bury. The front of her mind as she awakened had reminded her of something that Louis had once said to her. The revelation that she had been lying to him about Mike's status as a lawyer had put an inextricable rift between them.

Even after she had decided to go work for him instead of Harvey, there had been times where she knew that Louis still harboured the faintest doubts about her loyalty to him. It had finally occurred to Donna that the truth that she had worked so hard to ensure its reveal would not be well-received, for more reasons than one. Whilst she was glad that she could put the truth into the right hands, she realised that the actual truth would hurt many people.

The first fact was that there was someone within the firm who was working and delivering information to a rival. That was a serious matter that would have long-lasting implications, even if the perpetrator was removed immediately.

She had to deal with the possibility that she would face trouble for not bringing it to people's attention sooner. That was one of her lesser worries; she had tried to convince Harvey, but at the time there was little evidence (that she could divulge). Not to mention the fact that Harvey had followed up on her claim and had ruled that she was wrong.

Louis would be pissed off. Sure, most of that would be directed at Sadie for being the problem in the first place, but he would also be angry with Donna. Because she was meant to trust him. But as of late, he had barely registered on her radar. She had been working for him for months, and she still couldn't prioritize him first.

Donna could barely put herself first. The last major decision she had made for herself was the choice to work for Louis. It was a necessary move, but after all that had happened, she knew that what was best for her was closely linked to what was best for Harvey.

The more pressing worry for Donna (once again proving how mismatched she was working for Louis) was how Harvey would take the news. As much as Donna wanted to personally crush Sadie under her boot, she knew that it would affect him badly. To find out that yet another secretary had thrown his trust under the bus could send him over the edge. Which edge remained to be seen, but she knew that it was likely that she'd have to wait a while before continuing the conversation that Harvey had started the day before.

And Donna wanted to be certain that they were both sure of what they wanted. She'd spent so long being angry with Harvey for not telling her exactly what he wanted, that now there was a chance that they were finally on the same page, she wasn't ready. Not until she could be sure that there was nothing left in the way of complications.

Louis didn't seem to remember how angry he had once been with Donna; he was utterly ecstatic at her arrival back to work.

"Donna! It's so good to have you back!" He all but buried her in a warm hug, which was welcome, but all it did was make Donna feel guilty over lying to him. She tried to console herself with the reassurance that he'd know the truth soon enough.

"It's good to be back," she mumbled into his shoulder. Louis sensed her less than happy tone, and pulled out of the hug, holding her at arm's length.

"What's wrong?" he asked suspiciously.

"Nothing. I'm fine," Donna insisted.

"Is this about Harvey? You can tell me anything, you know." Louis almost sounded wistful. He had been envious of the closeness that Donna and Harvey had had, and she knew that he'd been attempting to recreate it.

"No. It's not about Harvey." Donna and Louis were friends, but she knew she'd never be able to be candid about her feelings for Harvey. The poor man had suffered enough. Lying to Louis really was the kindest option in this scenario.

"Because if you want, I can go and beat the shit out of him," Louis said boldly. She should have known that he'd make her feel better. Donna shook her head, trying not to laugh as she thought about the fact that Harvey had once offered to do the exact same thing to Louis.

"That's very kind of you Louis, but I think I'll pass."

"Just say the word. I got your back." She knew that he was secretly relieved that he wouldn't have to actually go and fight Harvey. They both knew that Harvey would win, even if Louis pretended that it was only because he was instructed by his doctor to hold back.

But after the pleasantries, Donna was happy to get back to doing some actual work. She needed to distract herself from worrying about everyone. She had done her job, it was just a matter of waiting for the chips to fall in the right places. The copies of the documents from the day before were likely still hidden around Harvey's office, and there was still the back-up copy in Louis' in-tray.

"Thank you. So, what's the agenda been looking like lately?" Donna asked brightly, eager to change the subject and start fixing what had fallen to pieces without her.

"Well, did you finish with the Talmer Incorporated file?" That was an example of actual work that hadn't been done. It was the first that Donna had heard that that file needed to be finished.

"No, I didn't think you needed me to finish it until I got back." Donna hadn't seen the file in question since before she had been unceremoniously banished from the firm.

"No? I have a meeting with them this afternoon, I can't go to the meeting without the file!" How Louis expected Donna to have done the work if she hadn't received it or even knew about it was a mystery.

"If I had the file, I would have done it! You must have forgotten to include it!" Donna snapped at him. It was remarkable how she could go from zero to livid in 0.5 seconds. But Louis frustrated the hell out of her at times. Before Louis could retaliate, however, Mike provided a much-needed reprieve when he stuck his head around the door.

"Louis? Jessica wants to see you her in her office right now. She sounds pissed." Louis and Donna both exchanged worried looks. Louis' was because he had no idea what it could be about, and Donna's was because she had too much of a good idea what it was about.

"I'll get onto this right away." Donna promised. If she put her head down, she'd be able to finish it in time for Louis' meeting in the afternoon. Louis gave her a single nod, and hurried out of the office to try and ease Jessica's wrath. Mike was still hovering at the door; he looked as though he wanted to say something to Donna about their chance encounter the day before. But he changed his mind, and left Donna to her work. And after he left, it dawned on her. If Louis had included the file to be given to Donna, it was because of Harvey's secretary that she never got it. Sadie had a lot to answer to.

Mike returned about twenty minutes later, just as Donna's concentration was about to break. She had been to the file room three times, and the partner's lounge twice. She would have gone more times if she was able to walk full speed, but the amount of rushing around had left her leg aching slightly. The area surrounding Harvey's office she deliberately avoided. Donna didn't want to run the risk of running into Harvey or Sadie until she knew where everyone stood. The meeting was taking longer than Donna was anticipating. The three espressos probably didn't help, either.

"Are you worried about Louis?"

"Louis?Why would I be worried about Louis?" In the grand scheme of what had been going on at the firm, Louis was not at the top of the list of her worries. She had been expecting a query about Harvey, or the future of his secretary. Louis, on the other hand, threw her off-guard.

"Do you not know?" Mike found it bewildering that Donna seemed clueless. Especially considering the fact that she had been at the firm in an overwhelmingly suspicious capacity the day before. He pulled out the day's newspaper and opened it to the editorials.

"The DA wrote a full page opinion column about big law in Manhattan, and he included confidential information about the firm's financials and clients."

"WHAT?!" Donna seized the newspaper from Mike and read the article frantically. The article was damning to the firm. Some of the things Terrence Wolf discussed Donna could recognise from Sadie's document. But there were other things that either Donna had missed, or Sadie had leaked at a different time. Either way, it was worse than Donna had originally feared.

"Oh my God. And Jessica thinks Louis leaked this information?!"

"It came from Louis' computer." Donna looked up at Mike with a horrified expression. That document had only been the tip of the iceberg. And now Louis was about to take the fall for it.

"But he didn't do this! He would never – God, I have to fix this." She pulled Sadie's document from Louis' in-tray and readied herself for the possibility of having to answer a lot of questions. She left Mike in her dust as she hastened to Jessica's office, ignoring the throbbing in her leg.

From the loud voices that Donna could hear down the hallway, she knew that it wasn't going to be pretty. The three named partners each posed their own special danger to Donna. Jessica, Harvey and Louis were meeting in Jessica's office. The hierarchy of the three partners was evident even in the way they were seated. Jessica was on her sofa, one long leg crossed elegantly over the other. The only way to describe her was regnant; as much as Harvey had tried to overthrow her in the past, he still trailed behind her in bloodshed caused by his own hands. Donna found that Jessica was the hardest to read out of the three; Louis wore his heart on his sleeve, and even Harvey could often be an open book (when he actually managed to get in touch with his feelings). Jessica, however, had built her career and her reign by being cool, calculated and therefore ruthless. It was rare that she offered her emotions freely. The threat posed by Jessica was that Donna had no idea how she would react to this news that it was actually the fault of someone else. And the risk remained that Donna faced trouble for not coming forward with the information earlier.

The dangers of Harvey and Louis, on the other hand, were that Donna was fairly certain she knew exactly how they were going to react to the news. As much as she craved justice for the issue at hand, she knew that she was making a risky move as the messenger.

Harvey was sitting on the arm of Jessica's sofa; not quite her equal, but still at her right hand. He was leaning forward slightly, as though he was ready to lead the fight into battle at Jessica's word. In the royal court that was Jessica's office, he was the knight. He was her protégé, her secret weapon. Donna knew all too well the damage he could inflict on a person. Sometimes without even trying. From the look on his face, it looked as though Jessica had instructed him to be ready with the guillotine at her orders. He was staring at Louis, itching for permission to let loose on his co-worker.

Meanwhile, Louis was standing. Even now he remained the outsider of the three. If anyone were to be labelled the jester of the firm, it would be Louis. Despite his high ranking position, he had been treated as a joke several times over his career. One of the reasons why Donna had decided to tell the three of them together was to show Louis that she regarded the three of them as equals. The memory was all too clear in her head the last time she had concealed the truth about something from Louis. She had intended to just have Harvey find out, but the fact remained that Donna still worked for Louis. Her job was to protect him. Especially now that Louis was facing trouble for a problem which she should have stomped out already. And as a result, Jessica and Harvey looked more than ready to sentence him to a metaphorical death over this. At least Louis might be grateful that she had the truth to vindicate him.

None of this contemplation over their roles in the firm helped Donna ease her worries, however. She stood in the hallway, a few steps back from the door. She was far enough back that none of them noticed her. Her heartbeat was still beating close to a million beats per minute. It would take a few seconds before she felt calm enough to proceed through that door and interrupt the argument that was taking place. It was of course Louis and Harvey who had failed to keep a lid on their volume.

"This isn't the first time this has happened, and I'm willing to bet that it won't be the last. You said that you and Donna would make a better team, but all this has shown that the problem is not with your secretary, it's with you." Donna inched back towards the wall at mention of her name. She hadn't been expecting to come up in conversation, much less to have Harvey and Louis bickering over her again.

"What does Donna have to do with this? It was your idea to send her home, what the hell were you trying to prove?! That her absence would affect me at work?! Well, then you succeeded. But don't try and tell me that having stretching your secretary thin to help us both was anything more than rubbing it in my face." No wonder Sadie could access Louis' information, if she had been working with him in Donna's absence.

"Louis, it's obvious that you fucked up, and that you're blaming your stupidity on the fact that you depend too much on Donna to do the most basic of tasks."

"Oh, and you didn't? Who was the one who came marching into my office because the only reason why you can function as a human being had decided to leave you?!"

"That's enough." Jessica cut them off, much to Donna's relief. She didn't wish to witness a repeat of the last time they had argued about her.

"I don't know what the hell is going on with you two, but it stops right now. Louis, whether or not this was a mistake, this was your mistake, and you're going to make damn well sure that you fix it." Showtime. Head straight, shoulders back, eyes forward. The few extra steps that Donna had to take provided the momentum to stride into Jessica's office with a false confidence.

"Jessica, it wasn't Louis who leaked the information," Donna blurted out. She had intended for her voice to be strong and clear, but there was no hiding the trepidation in her tone. The three of them stared at her for a few seconds, but Donna couldn't bring herself to meet the gazes of Louis or Harvey. With a small gulp, she walked over to Jessica, handing her the document.

"Sadie accidentally left this with me. I think you'll find the source of the leak in here." It wasn't outright accusing the guilty party, but it was enough that Jessica could put two and two together. It was a painful minute as Jessica skimmed through the document, her expression unreadable.

"Thank you, Donna, you may go." Donna had done all she could now. It was literally out of her hands. She allowed herself a cursory glance at Louis as she turned to leave. Despite the grave situation, she let out the biggest sigh of relief and returned to her desk feeling much lighter than before.

Jessica waited until Donna was out of earshot before speaking again.

"Well, Louis, it looks like you're in the clear. I'm sorry that you had to be dragged into this." Under normal circumstances, Louis would have kicked up a stir over being implicated in the first place, but he recognised that something was up and he accepted her apology with a nod.

"What the hell is that?" Harvey demanded, gesturing to the document in Jessica's hands.

"Your secretary seems to be in frequent contact with the DA. Did you know about this?" Now it was Harvey in the firing line. Jessica handed the document to Harvey so he could see the evidence himself.

"I didn't know she was spilling firm secrets to Terrence Wolf, no," Harvey replied quietly. He had worded his answer carefully. The document was thick, and it felt as though it weighed several pounds. The extra weight was from the knowledge that he had been wrong to trust his secretary. There was no mistaking the logo from the District Attorney's office and the employee code; he had created many documents with the same format himself.

"But you knew she was talking to him?" Louis relished the fact that Harvey was the one in trouble, and the chance to interrogate him was one that he was not about to pass up. Harvey shot him a dark look before answering.

"Yes," Harvey was realising how bad it sounded. "She was a witness in one of his assault cases." This admission antagonized Jessica further. She stood up finally, towering over a contrite Harvey.

"Where is she? You better find her, and bring her here right away." Her tone was threatening, and the anger was certainly catching. Harvey was more than happy to leave and lead the hunt for her, even if was just so he could avoid the urge to pick something up and smash it against the wall.

His office and her desk were empty. He had noticed that he hadn't seen her that morning, but it hadn't concerned him at the time. Now it was downright suspicious.
He searched in multiple places around the firm where she might be; the file room, the staff lounge, supply closets. As he was doing so, he couldn't help but think back to a conversation that he and Donna had had one of the last times she had wanted to warn him.

"This is not your fault, and I never want to hear you say that again. You did everything you could have done."

Harvey had seen how upset Donna was to have to deliver that goddamn document to them earlier. And she had continued to try and warn him. But Harvey had refused to listen. He was having trouble trying to figure out whether he was angrier at his soon-to-be-ex secretary for being a traitor, or himself for not taking Donna more seriously. But at that point it didn't matter. She was still nowhere to be seen; he had to enlist more reinforcements. She obviously didn't want to be found.

Mike and Rachel were in Mike's office, both with grim expressions on their faces. Their lack of surprise at Harvey's arrival suggested that they had been waiting for Harvey to stop by.

"Where the hell did Sadie go? Have you seen her?" Rachel and Mike exchanged glances, and Mike pushed forward a resignation-shaped envelope across his desk.

"Harvey, we just found this on her desk. She's already gone."

Secretary number thirteen had left the building.

Donna had walked to the file room and back about ten more times before Louis returned from the meeting. Much to her relief, he didn't appear to be angry. To the contrary, he had a tired smile on his face as he leaned against her cubicle.

"What's going on? What's happening? What - where's Sadie?" She was beginning to think that her behaviour came less from nerves and more from the absurd amounts of caffeine she had consumed in such a short space.

"Sadie left her letter of resignation on her desk. She must have known that the writing would be on the wall when the article came out. We'll be looking into legal action to take against her and Terrence Wolf."

"She resigned?!" Donna had secretly been hoping for the chance to fire her herself, but a resignation was worse. It meant that yet another person had left Harvey. She pulled back out of her chair. "I have to go and talk to him." But as she was about to leave, she gave Louis a pleading look. It wasn't as though she had to ask for permission, but more for understanding. He gave her a knowing nod.

"Go. He's feeling pretty low. I know you'll make him feel better." Louis was speaking from experience. Donna gave him a grateful hug, but he knew as he watched her hurry down the hallway that he'd always play second fiddle to Harvey. And it was time for him to accept that.

Harvey was at his desk, facing the window. She was positive that he heard the door open, but he made no movement to turn around. Donna sat down on his couch and waited patiently for him to be ready to talk. Her mind was perfectly content with waiting, but she couldn't stop her good leg from jiggling incessantly. She knew how much she resembled an impatient child, but it couldn't be helped.

"What's wrong with your leg?" Harvey asked; he could see her reflection in the window. Donna forcibly put her foot down and smiled sheepishly. But it served as a perfect icebreaker - he swivelled around to face her, struggling to keep up his steely expression.

"Three espressos, huh?" Harvey had learned over the years to match Donna's ability at figuring out how many coffees he had drank. It helped that her tells were far more pronounced than his signature - one espresso was properly functioning, two was finishing work for Harvey before he even knew it existed (the usual standard), and three was wired.

"Well, after what happened before my unwelcome hiatus, I wanted to be 300% certain that I wouldn't fall asleep at work ever again." The corner of Harvey's mouth twitched, which was a good sign. He wasn't quite wallowing in the deep end just yet.

"You know it was Sadie who put the idea in my head to send you home?" Harvey told her morosely.

"That two-faced bitch," Donna replied, putting her thumbnail in her mouth to prevent her leg from jiggling again. It also worked at stopping her from properly articulating her thoughts about Sadie. They could wait.

"She said you should take some time off, and I was the one who thought a restraining order was a good idea. I didn't realise it was because it made it easier to leak stuff to Terrence Wolf."

"Harvey, it's not your fault." Harvey had told her multiple times over the years not to blame herself for things, and now it was time for her to return the favour. Sadie had been pretty damn convincing at playing the role of trustworthy secretary.

"Isn't it?" It wasn't a rhetorical question; he was giving her the opportunity to blame him. Not just for refusing to believe her, but for his overall behaviour. She didn't think it was the best time to address their deeper issues while he was still obviously upset.

"Would breaking something make you feel better? I think Sadie left a couple of paperweights that would look great in a million pieces," Donna suggested, diplomatically changing the subject. They would have time to discuss their feelings later on.

"I want to break our rule." His reply stopped Donna's thought train in its tracks.

"Our rule?" Harvey was verging on dangerous territory. If he was talking about the rule that she thought he was referring to, then their conversation had just taken an unexpected turn. He really was eager to continue their talk from the night before.

"Donna, we both know goddamn well that the minute I agreed to try and forget about the other time, it became my rule as well." He was right. Even if the rule only applied to Donna, he had agreed to it and been the perfect gentleman in sticking to it. Until he had told her he loved her, of course.

"We can't break the rule, because I don't work for you. Unless you're saying you want me to quit working for Louis, start immediately working for you again, just so we can break the rule?" She tried to make it sound as absurd as possible; it was still uncertain whether he was of sound mind to be making such proposals. Donna definitely didn't want to be the rebound secretary.

"That's exactly what I want. I want everything. I want you back." The number of times that Harvey had said words to that effect to her in recent months was tallying up to the point where Donna was almost allowing herself to believe it. But until she heard him say that he loved her again, she'd play it down.

"Well, I guess there's a huge caseload that just opened up that I could help you with - I'm thinking an injunction?" she suggested, knowing that he would leap at the opportunity to stick it to Terrence Wolf.

"An injunction? That'll never work. It's already been published." His defeatist demeanour was infuriating. Donna stood up and walked over to his desk, pressing her palms down forcefully into the hard surface. He needed a good, old-fashioned Donna pep talk.

"What kind of attitude is that?! I didn't work with you for all those years so you could back down from a little challenge!" Trust Donna to take words that he had once said to her and turn it back into advice for him. Harvey appreciated the pep talk, but he had to point out the reality of the situation.

"It's the truth! Unless it stated that Terrence Wolf had to go round every single newsstand in New York City picking up all unsold copies of the newspaper. I was thinking we go and scare some people at the New York Times to publish a full-page retraction and apology on the front page of both the print and online editions," Harvey presented his tempting counter-offer.

"Well, why not both?" Who said they couldn't kick multiple asses in one day?

Harvey gave her a huge smile as he realised that Donna had implicitly agreed to work with him again. He stood up slowly so they were at eye level. Donna was proud to see him adopt his determined game face.

"Let's do it." Harvey nearly bolted out the door, but Donna caught him by the arm before he could make any rash movements.

"Wait, Harvey! Are we going to the courthouse?" He also needed to slow down because she'd fall over if she had to keep up with his pace. They had time to savour their first case together in a long time.

"Of course we are, why?" Donna gave him a triumphant smile that cemented their new working relationship.

"Then you better go get the can-opener."