A/N: Huge thanks to my lovely new beta, oneforthehaters. You're a peach. :)

Disclaimer: Blah blah, not mine.

March 2002

Bess really had no idea what the hell was going on, or for that matter, why she was marching into the District Attorney's office with a suit bag in one hand and a can opener in the other. She felt like a prize idiot, but Harvey had called frantically raving about how he needed a can opener or he couldn't go to trial, so there she was. She was fairly sure he already had an extra suit in his office, but another one couldn't hurt, and having it in hand made her feel just a little less foolish.

With a little bit of help, she found her way to some large, open area lined with office doors and desks filled with several executive assistants hurriedly doing a variety of different things. Bess knew Harvey's assistant was named Donna something or other, and she was a redhead and no nonsense in a way that made Harvey suspicious that she might be from Boston, but he liked her none-the-less. Aside from that, Bess was at a loss. So she stood there, looking completely flustered until her eyes finally fell on a woman she could only assume was Donna.

She was dressed in a pair of checked trousers, an emerald green button down and a grey blazer than even Bess would have killed for. She was gorgeous, Harvey's age, maybe a year or two older, and she exuded confidence in the way Bess had always wished she could. It was clear she was a badass. No wonder Harvey liked her.

Bess took a few gingerly steps forward and spoke.

"Hi, you must be Donna. I'm here for—"

"Oh thank God, you brought the can opener!" Bess nearly jumped back as the fiery red head snatched the utensil from her hand, said a quick, "be right back," then dashed off into Harvey's office, slamming the door as she went.

The poor girl was completely stunned, and simply stood there, not entirely sure what to do. One of the other nearby assistants informed Bess that it was really nothing personal; those two were just weird, apparently. So she stood and waited, feeling no less confused by any means, until Harvey and Donna emerged from the office a few moments later. He took no notice of her—she wasn't exactly in his line of sight—but Bess had quite the view of Donna smacking his ass and saying "May they die of suffocation in the icy cold of space!" before he marched off to lord knows where.

The redhead quickly collected herself then seated herself back at her desk.

"I'm so sorry about that," she said as she deposited the can opener—which apparently now belonged to her—in the upper drawer of her desk. "There would have been hell to pay if you hadn't showed up. Are you Harvey's little sister?"

Bess had attended cotillion from the time she was six until she turned sixteen, and never in ten years of etiquette classes had a situation even remotely like this one been covered. Apparently she would have to wing it.

"No. He doesn't have a sister. And I'm not even going to ask what the can opener was about, but did you just quote Star Trek to him?"

"Live long and prosper," Donna said, holding up her hand in the traditional fashion.

Bess was absolutely positive that Donna was a terribly odd bird, and she couldn't help but like her. She let out a slight laugh and held out her hand.

"I'm Elisabeth."

Donna's face was almost as good as Harvey's but for the briefest moment there was that look, the look people sometimes gave when they realized she was Harvey's girl. That's what one got for dating a guy who looked older than his age when you looked somewhat younger than yours. Done up and dressed right, Bess could easily pass for a legal drinking age, and she did so fairly regularly, but as she was now, with barely a stitch of makeup on, she looked every bit her eighteen years.

"Oh, it's so nice to meet you," she said just a little too fast. "Harvey said you were beautiful."

"You expected me to be older," Bess countered, though not meanly. She had found it was best to defuse these situations as quickly as possible. Donna looked briefly taken aback, something Bess was sure that she rarely ever was, but she went on. "It's really not a problem. People always expect me to be older."

Donna studied her face for a moment then let out the breath she had been holding. "Oh good. Sorry about that. Harvey's been busy all morning and my filter is just about gone and I never got coffee this morning, so my brain just isn't firing at full force. Is that Harvey's suit? I can take it for you."

The whole of what Donna had just said took about five seconds from start to finish. Bess had never met anyone who could talk so fast. No wonder she and Harvey worked well together. Apparently Donna hated wasting time too.

"Sure," Bess replied, handing the bag to Donna. The red head stood and turned as though to leave before she noticed that Bess hadn't moved at all.

"Do you need anything?"

"Well," Bess said, "I don't know how long he's going to be gone, but since I'm down here I was hoping to steal him for lunch. Any chance that can happen?"

Donna made a face that clearly showed that she was thinking, and she dug into a schedule book after laying the suit on a nearby chair.

"He's technically supposed to have a meeting in an hour, but I can move it to later in the day, if you'd like."

Bess was thrilled to hear it, and she thanked Donna before she made a move to leave. Then, a thought came to her, and she turned around.

"Hey, Donna there's this coffee place down the block and I was gonna—"

"You mean Mariella's?" Donna asked excitedly, turning back to look at Bess, who had literally never been cut off this many times in one conversation. She giggled slightly, not being able to help herself.

"Yeah…I was gonna grab a macchiato while I was waiting. Do you want me to bring something back for you?"

The look on Donna's face was that of drowning man who had just been thrown a life raft. She assured Bess she was a queen among women, wrote down her coffee order, tried to insist on paying—though Bess would have none of that—then shoved her out the door.

Harvey was done in less than an hour. The case had been overwhelmingly simple, so much so that his brain was almost numb, and it had been terribly easy to convince the poor fools to settle. He entered his office through the back door and shrugged off his suit jacket, only to be greeted by a note from Donna on his desk.

Moved your 11:30 to 6:00. You have a lunch meeting now, instead.

D

While Harvey didn't mind staying later than planned, Donna rarely moved his schedule around without okaying it with him first, unless it was something important. And even then, he usually had some warning of what was going on. This really wasn't to his liking. He grabbed the note, and pulled on his discarded suit jacket as he walked out the door toward Donna's desk.

"Donna, who is so important that I have to kiss their ass now instead of tomorrow?"

It was then that Harvey realized he had completely shoved his foot in his mouth. Sitting opposite his spitfire of an assistant was his spitfire of a girlfriend. He had planned to introduce them at some point, but given the laugh that erupted between them at his expense, he could see they were already fast friends.

He was fairly sure this was a bad thing, for him anyway.

"That would be me, dear," Bess said, raising a hand and waving to him. She had changed during her coffee trip, thrown half her hair up in a chignon and done her makeup. She looked stunning on any given day, but that didn't mean Harvey didn't enjoy the view.

She went back to speaking with Donna for a moment, then added, "Unless you're too busy, because I'm sure Donna would be more than happy to be my lunch date."

The girls continued to sip their coffee while Harvey wandered toward Bess and reached a hand out to her. She gave him a look of consideration—though altogether playful—then took his outstretched hand, stood and said, "Oh, so you are going to take me to lunch?"

He couldn't help but laugh. It was just like Bess to show up in the middle of the day from hell, sass him back to happiness, and then drag him off to make sure he ate.

"Of course," he replied. He helped Bess into her coat, said a quick thanks to Donna—who assured him there would be hell to pay if he wasn't back in an hour—then slung and arm over Bess's shoulder and steered her toward the nearest exit.

"Bye, Elisabeth," Donna called after her. "Eight o'clock, right?"

"See you then," Bess threw back over her shoulder.

It took Harvey a moment to register, but he quickly caught on and asked, "What was that about?"

"Oh that?" Bess said playful as he opened the door to her car for her. She told the driver where to go, then snuggled up to Harvey in the back seat. "Nothing. Donna's just coming over for dinner tonight."

He looked at her for a moment, considered his next move then said, "You two are just going to run my life, aren't you?"

At this, Bess smiled, cupped his cheek in her hand, kissed him ever so lightly and replied with a sugary sweet, "Yes, dear."

Up next: Bess, Harvey and Donna having dinner, or the fab foursome of Bess, Mike, Donna and Harvey at a firm gala. May or may not involve Bess and Mike getting drunk and behaving badly. Should be quite funny, no matter which one.

SO...review and let me know which you would like to see first! :)