Hey guys :D I have loads of ideas for future chapters but this is one I had to THINK for. I had to actually COME UP with a scenario :O I thought REALLY hard for it too :P All my other ideas were going to feature mini!Mike and while this is in no way a bad thing, I thought you could use some diversity in ages ;)

For the fifth time in one week, Harvey got back home in the small hours of the morning. The first thing he always did was check in Mike's room, just to make sure the kid hadn't died since he'd been gone. After readjusting the duvet cover that his son had kicked off at some point, Harvey kissed his forehead and left the room quietly.

He slid down the couch, rubbing at his eyes before looking over to Nick, who was sleeping at an awkward angle, the blanket he had draped over him now slipping onto the floor. Harvey rolled his eyes at the small pool of drool that was threatening to form on his couch and grabbed the hoodie he knew was Nick's, quickly mopping it up and leaving it by his mouth in case he made any more.

He may as well let Nick move in, he decided. He had dutifully babysat his 9 year old nephew every time night over the past week while Harvey had to work hard on a case that was - thankfully - now coming to a close. He had court tomorrow, but was feeling quite confident about it. All of this work was generating the big bucks for Pearson Hardman, but was really putting a strain on Harvey - not just the workload, but the fact that he could count on one hand the overall amount of hours he'd spent with Mike that week when the kid had actually been awake.

So Nick had been sleeping over, taking Mike to work with him or staying in the condo - sometimes taking him to the park, making his food... He had started keeping a bag with his own clothes in, stashed in Harvey's wardrobe.

"Sorry, Nicky," Harvey whispered, doing the same as he had done for Mike and pulled the blanket up to where it must have originally been. "You can go home tomorrow."

Nick mumbled something intelligible and Harvey smiled slightly, squeezing his shoulder before standing, knowing he needed to go to sleep as well. He looked in on Mike one more time - because he needed more interaction with his son - before slowly making his way to his own room.

Harvey got up early - as he had done every day this week - and was showered, dressed, groomed and was making coffee for himself and Nick when Mike appeared. It was still too early for him to be up, but Harvey guessed he'd either been woken by the sounds of life in the living room or he just wanted to see Harvey.

Harvey guessed it was more of the latter, as Mike quickly ran up to him, giving him a hug.

"Hey, buddy," Harvey said, ruffling his hair. "How was yesterday? Did you have fun?"

Mike nodded, rubbing at his still-sleepy eyes and following Harvey to the couch, sitting as close to him as possible without getting on his lap, letting his head rest against Harvey's upper arm as the man in question sipped at his coffee and watched the news. He noticed that Mike was suspiciously quiet. He knew it was early, but that had never stopped Mike before.

He glanced down and saw Mike fiddling with the hem of his Iron Man pyjamas (He had moved through a variant of obsessions and was in the midst of a superhero kick; this month's favourite was Tony Stark - which Harvey was grateful for, as it was much easier to find Iron Man pyjamas than it had been to find Spirit pyjamas).

"What's wrong?" Harvey asked, moving to put his coffee cup down in order to focus on Mike.

The little boy chewed on the tip of his thumbnail for a second before answering. "You don't like spending time with me anymore," he said in a quiet voice.

"What?" Harvey pulled the boy on his lap, waiting for the small struggle that meant 'I'm 9, I don't need to sit on your lap!' to die before questioning him. "Of course I do!"

"You're always at work, and when you're not you're doing work here and you never go anywhere with me anymore - you missed my mock mock trial," he snuffled.

"Your what?" Harvey asked, confused.

"It was good," Nick chipped in from where he had been a silent witness on the couch, curled in his blanket. "You should've seen him - he completely crushed prosecution."

"Why a mock, mock trial?" Harvey asked.

"'Cause it wasn't a real mock trial," Mike told him, as if it were obvious.

"Why didn't you tell me about it?" Harvey asked, looking disappointed to have missed it.

"You were busy with a case," Mike reminded him. "It wasn't a real trial anyway."

"Buddy, you know I want to see all of your trials - real or not. When was it?"

"Yesterday," Nick answered for him. "It was hilarious, Harv - there were all these 19 year olds about to go off into the big bad world to study pre-law and then Mikey was there, kicking ass!"

Harvey smiled, clearly imagining the sight of his small son wearing an Avengers t-shirt appealing to a jury, surrounded by serious looking teenagers in suits. He was wondering whether it had been the right thing to do, letting Mike go to High School, but when he heard of how even there Mike was in accelerated programmes... he felt incredibly proud.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there," Harvey said, rubbing Mike's arm.

Mike shrugged. "Doesn't matter."

"Yes it does," Harvey told him, frowning. "Okay - this case is almost over. How about next week, you and me have a a day that's just us. I'll come back from work, I'll leave everything there; case files, clients - I'll turn my phone off. What do you think?"

Mike beamed ecstatically.

"Harvey, I wanted to thank you for all the work you were putting into the Enfield case," Jessica told him, smiling as she entered his office.

"Is this when I get my likeness in bronze?" Harvey asked, a smirk on his face.

"Unfortunately not, the cast hasn't set fully yet," Jessica teased, before passing him a ticket.

"What's this?" He asked, confused.

"The firm's been invited to a ball by Franklin Anderson," she told him, knowing he knew who that was. Anderson had up until recently been with a rival firm, bringing them in nearly 100 million dollars a year. He was now shopping around, and was hosting a ball, inviting several key firms from around the city in order to help in deciding who to turn to. "I thought you might want to come."

"You would have brought me along anyway," he told her confidently.

"Well I guess you'll never know," she countered, striding smoothly out of her office. He smiled at her retreating back and looked down at the ticket. It was a smooth white ticket, embossed with gold writing that said very clearly where and when the ball would take place. He rolled his eyes a bit when he read it was a masquerade ball. How cliché.

It was then he read the date.

It was exactly the same day that he had promised Mike would be their day. He couldn't just go back on that promise; but this would be a major win for the firm - he was already on track to becoming a managing partner and winning Anderson would practically guarantee the firm's name being changed within a week.

But still... Mike was already going through enough - he was staying silent and not complaining whenever Harvey had to work late; even Nick had told him that Mike had said nothing to him. And it was only one night.

They could always reschedule.

Mike was excited. He had been promised that on Thursday night, it would be just their time. No one but him and Harvey; no work, no 'quick' phone calls, no thinking about cases. Just the two of them, spending time with each other. Mike had finished all of his school work and Uncle Nick had just left - apparently there were hundreds of balloons being let go in Central Park that day in honour of something and he wanted a good shot of it. He knew it wouldn't be long before Harvey came home though - he had already made Mike promise to call him if an hour after he left, he was still on his own. Only twenty minutes after Nick left did Harvey walk into the condo, putting down his suitcase and looking to be fighting a private dilemma.

"Dad! How was work? What happened? Do you have any cool clients? How's Donna? Can I come to work one day?" Mike babbled endlessly, and it pained Harvey to think that he was so excited now that the older man was home. Harvey squeezed his shoulder as he walked into the kitchen, letting Mike talk keep talking, asking questions and then telling Harvey about his day.

Harvey occasionally nodded as he went about the kitchen, flicking the coffee machine on and getting out a mug, before getting out a glass and wiggling a juice carton from the fridge to wordlessly ask Mike if he wanted some. The kid nodded without drawing breath and Harvey smiled, pouring out some juice into the glass and passing it to the boy.

It wasn't until they were both seated on the couch, Mike moving some of his superhero action figures to one side and saying how on Thursday night they could maybe watch a Marvel film, that Harvey finally spoke.

"Mike; about Thursday - " Harvey began.

"You have work," Mike immediately said, a sinking feeling in his stomach, and Harvey could hear the despondent tone in his voice. "You have to bring loads of files home, but you promise you'll be done with them in an hour tops," he said dully - something Harvey could remember himself promising many times before this.

"Not exactly," Harvey replied, wincing when Mike looked up at him with a mixture of hope and devastation. "I've been invited to this ball for a prospective client," he explained. "And it's on Thursday night - I'll be out till late."

Mike nodded, looking down at his lap and playing with his fingers.

"We can make it tomorrow night instead?" Harvey suggested.

Mike shook his head. "You already said you'd be working all of tomorrow to finish work so you wouldn't have any on Thursday," Mike reminded him. "And on Friday you'll be catching up with any work you'll have missed on Thursday."

"I'm sorry, buddy," Harvey said, reaching out with one hand to cup his cheek and rub at it with his thumb. "I really hadn't planned for this - I promise I'll make sure I have the whole weekend off?" He said, realising how hollow that sounded. "We can go somewhere - we can do anything you want? The whole weekend, just you and me?"

"Saturday you promised Donna you'd help her move," Mike informed him, his lips wobbling slightly. "Sunday Grandma and Grandpa are coming down for the day."

"But you'll have fun," Harvey said weakly, realising that Mike knew exactly what Harvey was doing on each day - probably to avoid disappointment. "You like seeing your grandparents."

Mike gave a small sniff. "I like spending time with you," he said, rubbing at his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Mikey," Harvey said, pulling him into a hug, resting his chin on Mike's head. "I guess I really screwed this up."

"It's not fair," Mike whispered. "I never get to see you - I've seen Uncle Nick more than I've seen you. I miss you."

"I miss you too, monkey," Harvey replied quietly, breathing out slowly. "I'm sorry."

"Why does the firm get to see you more than I do?" Mike said, and Harvey could tell he'd started to cry softly. "Why do you have to go to this stupid ball?"

"He could be a really big client," Harvey informed him. "Jessica wants my support there. If I land this guy, I get a huge bonus; maybe even my name on the sign," Harvey realised that Mike was about to question why that was so important. "I can spend a lot more time with you if I become managing partner," Harvey told him. "And just think of all the presents you'll get if I get this bonus."

"I don't want more presents or money!" Mike cried out. "I want you!"

"And I want you," Harvey reassured him, rocking him slightly. "I'm sorry, kiddo, really - we can plan for next week?"

"You'll just break your promise again!" Mike tore away from him and gathered up his action figures, going to his room and slamming the door.

Harvey sighed and slithered down in his seat. It seemed like more and more Mike was doing this. And he wasn't anywhere near the teenage stage yet! Harvey seemed to recall having a well behaved, sunny little boy. That had happened, hadn't it? He hadn't just woken up and found a 9 year old boy who would get easily upset and hide in his room rather than talk it out?

Or hug it out.

It annoyed Harvey that when it came to his son, he found it easier to just give him physical affection rather than try and talk through the issues. He grabbed his home phone and dialled Nick's number, hoping for some guidance.

"Hey - what's up, Mikey? Harvey not home yet?"

"It's me, Nicky."

"Oh. Hey, big bro. What's up?"

"Am I interrupting anything?" Harvey asked, knowing there was a reason that Nick hadn't been there when he got in from work.

"I literally just put my camera away when you called. Everything okay?"

"I'm assuming Mike told you about Thursday?"

He heard a chuckle down the other end of the phone. "Couldn't get him to shut up about it. The way the kid was talking, you'd think you'd just agreed to take him to Disneyland for the day."

Harvey winced - not just because of how excited the kid had been, but because he remembered the last time they had been to Disneyland. It was only a week after they had started living together, and Harvey had been given some free tickets by a thankful client. It had been fun - and Harvey had kept promising Mike that they would return one day.

If he wasn't careful, after this week, they would be spending a month there.

"I have to go to a social for the firm on Thursday," Harvey said, sighing. "I can't get out of it, and now I wouldn't be surprised if Mike refuses to talk to me ever again."

"Stop being so dramatic, Harv," Nick laughed at him. "The kid thinks you hung the moon - it'll take more than one small disappointment to knock that attitude out of him; believe me, I know."

That may have sounded a little more bitter than Harvey would have liked. He and his brother had been close as children - well, as closer as any brothers; Harvey usually thought his little brother was annoying, and Nick usually thought his big brother was bossy. But most of the time, Nick looked up to his brother, and Harvey protected his. And when Harvey disappointed him a few times (usually missing his plays at school or his exhibitions) Nick just bounced back - because there was still a small part of him that worshipped his big brother.

"But I don't do disappointing," Harvey said, sounding more sure of himself than he thought. "I make sure that kid is constantly happy."

"Well you haven't been doing that great a job this week, bro," Nick said in a commiserating way. "Look - if you can't get out of this 'social'... why don't you just take Mike with you? I mean; he's a good kid, he'll behave himself."

"This isn't just a party, Nick," Harvey told him, although his brother's idea had made him think for a second. "It's practically a networking event; I can't bring a kid with me."

"Well don't ask me to babysit," Nick warned him. "I booked Thursday off. Gotta work at my actual job."

A wave of guilt swept through Harvey. "I'm sorry," he said in a low voice. "I really appreciate you looking after him."

"No problemo," Nick said airily. "Look, I have to go - lemme know what you decide on."

"I will," Harvey promised. "Bye, Nick."

"Seeya, Harv."

Harvey sat back as he thought. Surely taking Mike to this couldn't be that bad? Okay, it wasn't the same as it being just the two of them - but at least it was something. Although the kid hadn't liked the idea of their weekend with Donna and Harvey's parents, so maybe he wouldn't like the idea of them both going to this ball.

But it was out of the question - Jessica wouldn't let him bring his 9 year old son when they were trying to bring in a client. He wouldn't be able to actually spend any time with Mike there anyway - he'd be too busy networking.

But what else could he do? Nick couldn't babysit, Donna would be knee deep in work and anyone else he would consider would be at this event. It was too short notice to hire a sitter - and he didn't really trust someone he'd never met before.

Maybe he'd have to bring Mike? It was either that or stay at home with him; and Harvey knew which one Jessica would prefer.

He got up and knocked on Mike's door hearing the explosion and fight sounds die down as he did so. He opened the door and walked in to see Mike knelt on the floor, looking up at him with distrust in his eyes as he held a Batman figure in one hand and Iron Man in the other. The other Avengers that had clearly been backup for Iron Man were lying apart and a Superman toy was on his other side.

Harvey nodded down. "Who's winning?"

Mike broke his gaze and looked down at his lap, clutching the figures closer to him. Harvey sighed and knelt, sitting opposite Mike, wincing and moving so that he wasn't sat on top of a Green Lantern toy. "Mike," he said. "Mikey, look at me."

Mike looked up, still holding his toys close to his chest, like they would protect him from whatever Harvey was about to say.

"I can't get out of this ball - and there's no one available to look after you. If I can square it with Jessica - what do you say about coming with me?"

Mike bit his lip. "I wanted it to be me and you," he said quietly.

"I know you do, buddy," Harvey said placatingly. "So do I - but this is what has to happen. I'll even let you stay up late and we can maybe get take-out?"

Mike shrugged.

"It's a masquerade ball," Harvey told him. "You can wear a mask."

"Can I be Iron Man?"

"Uh..." Harvey knew that even if he could get Jessica to agree to this, she would definitely put her foot down on that. "Maybe something a bit more classic."

"Can I be Batman?" Mike asked, letting his figures slowly come away from himself as he talked.

"I don't see why not," Harvey said, giving up. Surely a Batman mask would be fine? It would go with the whole 'black tie' theme better than an Iron Man mask would. "So are you okay coming with me?"

Mike nodded. "I guess," he shrugged, readying his troops for battle again before looking up at Harvey. "You wanna be Batman?" He held out the action figure to Harvey. The older man took it and it wasn't too long after this that both of them had moved from Mike's room and into the main part of the condo, battling to the death.

Why Batman hated Iron Man so much, Harvey wasn't sure but he inevitably pinned Mike to his bed and tickled him until he cried uncle and gave Batman the title of winner - Harvey didn't care what Mike said, the missiles from Iron Man had been well and truly dodged.

The first thing Harvey did on Wednesday morning was go to Jessica, asking for an emergency appointment.

"Harvey - surely the word 'emergency' is just a touch dramatic?" She said, raising an eyebrow as he entered.

"You should know by now that dramatic's my style," he said, giving her a cheeky smile.

"Harvey, I'm busy - what's so important?"

"Thursday."

"What about it? And if this is to request that Louis doesn't come either, then I'll tell you what I told him - I want both of you there and you can just suck it up and make nice."

"It isn't about that," Harvey told her, making her sit up and take notice.

"Really? This should be interesting then."

"I have no one to look after Mike," he told her. "I'd already made it clear to anyone I usually ask that tomorrow I was planning on having a night in with the kid for once," he said, trying to make her feel guilty as he levelled a stare at her. She just held a poker face, nodding slightly as she listened. "The only solution is to let me bring him, or I don't go."

"Okay."

"Okay... That's it?"

Jessica sat back, folding her arms. "That's it. You can bring Mike."

"There's a catch to this, isn't there?" He growled. "I've done enough work over the past few weeks, I'm not doing a pro bono - "

"No catch," she told him. "Anderson's last firm was very family orientated; I think he'll have some young family members there. It might work in our favour. Oh, but Harvey?" She stood up to put a book on her shelf, holding eye contact with him. "This doesn't mean he gets to act like a kid. I expect immaculate behaviour - from both of you. Got it?"

He saluted her and rolled his eyes. "I raised him, Jess," he reminded her. "He'll be even better behaved than some of the other lawyers there."

"That I don't doubt," she said, a smile on her face, lighting up her eyes. "Get out of here."

Mike looked at himself in the mirror with his mask on. It was quite creepy. Batman made it look cool. Iron Man made it look cool. Seeing it up close wasn't so cool. Suddenly, another mask appeared behind him without warning and he gave a small squeak and stumbled backwards, knocking into the masked figure.

"Woah, easy, slugger," Harvey easily caught him and turned him around. Mike quivered slightly and reached up on his tip-toes, pushing the mask up so that he could the whole of Harvey's face. The mask was a nice one; even Mike could see that.

Harvey hadn't wanted to 'play dress-up' as he had described it but he did want to impress and so had bought an expensive Venetian mask; it was in the baroque style and was all silver except for the ornate extras on the top and on the sides which were a light, almost white gold colour. The small carvings looked like a classic Italian coat of arms and it looked classy, definitely working well with Harvey's suit. The man had already decided that he didn't want feathers on his.

He had given Mike a suit; one that was basically the same as the one he was wearing, except his bow tie was tied. "C'mere, kiddo - we need to make you look good."

He knelt and started to tie the bow tie on Mike's small tux, finishing and tweaking it slightly before standing once more, smiling. "Perfect."

Mike beamed at him, and hid his nervous grimace as Harvey pulled his own mask back down. He didn't like not being able to see Harvey's facial expressions - anyone else would say they could never tell what he was thinking even with full access to his face. But Mike could usually tell what he was thinking. Not being able to tell what someone was thinking was making him nervous.

And he was about to walk straight into a room full of people with masks on.

And he couldn't exactly tell Harvey they had to leave; Harvey had to be here. He couldn't leave; even if his son was about to have a nervous breakdown because he didn't like masks.

When they walked into the room, Mike wanted to grab Harvey's hand and never let go. He had never before given any thought at all to the subject of masks; he had seen plenty of mask films; Batman, Zorro, The Spirit - any superhero film. But for some reason seeing them in real life was different. And these masks weren't even small pieces of material - quite a few were full face masks; making Mike even more nervous (and he suspected it would soon kick into high gear and be labelled as 'terrified').

"Harvey, glad you showed up," Mike jumped and took Harvey's hand upon coming face to face with Louis, who was wearing a Phantom of the Opera mask. He could probably get used to it but being suddenly confronted by it had been bad enough.

Harvey looked down at Mike, confused, and squeezed his hand before taking his own away, placing it on Mike's shoulder. "Louis - I would have thought you'd have gone for a full-face mask."

"And why is that?" He replied, as Jessica glided towards them with an elegant eye mask on a long stick in her hands.

"Well explaining an insult makes it less funny," Harvey informed him. "Think about it. Jessica," he greeted as she approached.

"Harvey," she gave him a small smile before looking at Mike. "Michael. Did you choose your mask yourself?"

Mike wasn't sure if Jessica was curious or just getting ready to tease him because of his choice. He edged closer to Harvey and glanced up slightly. Harvey frowned, not knowing why Mike was suddenly acting so shy; but at the same time understanding what was going through his head.

"You don't like it?" Harvey asked her, a warning look on his face (as much as he could show, with his mask in the way)

"I think it's creative," she acknowledged. "Not many would have thought of actual masks when told to buy one."

Mike breathed out slightly and nodded to her previous question.

"I like it," she assured him, giving him a small smile and nod. "Now, gentlemen - I'm about to go speak with Mr. Anderson; are you coming?" They both nodded and Louis started following Jessica immediately as Harvey turned to look at Mike.

"Okay, kiddo - I'm going to talk to a possible client for a while; I know he has some nephews and nieces dotted around - how about you go try and find them?"

"Okay, Dad," Mike said quietly, trying not to look at the masks around him. "Go save the world."

Harvey chuckled and carefully ruffled Mike's hair. "How'd I get lucky enough to wind up with a kid like you?"

Mike grinned impishly at him. "Go kick it in the ass."

"Language," Harvey said, not really meaning it as he was about to go kick it in the ass. He would land this client. "I'll come find you afterwards - if you get lost or you can't find me, go stand by the large staircase, alright?" He said, pointing it out. "I'll look for you there first. If all else fails, try and find Jessica or Louis. Got it?"

"I got it," Mike nodded, smiling at Harvey as the man finally took his leave, quickly scoping out Jessica and Louis standing next to who was undoubtedly the client they had come here to woo. Mike smiled slightly with pride as he saw other lawyers looking sullen and slightly nervous that Pearson Hardman were there.

He turned and stopped himself yelling in surprise as he almost bumped into someone with a plague doctor-like mask on - complete with a bird's beak. He squeaked out a hasty 'sorry' and backed away, looking at the floor as much as possible. He sometimes glanced up to see if he could find the other kids that Harvey had mentioned, but it was a large ballroom, and people were filling every corner of it - dancing, chatting; just milling around and networking. Mike could feel how clammy his hands were as the soulless eyes behind the calm masks filled him with dread.

He had no idea what they were thinking - they could be looking at him and he would never know. He wanted more than anything to clutch onto Harvey and press his face into his side to avoid looking at any more masks. But he couldn't.

Harvey was busy, and Mike had to prove that he was responsible enough to be brought to something like this and behave himself. He rubbed his sweaty palms down his suit jacket and dodged in and out between clusters of people - finally coming across a group of kids that were near enough his age.

"Uh... hi," Mike said, pulling his mask up so that he could see (and breathe) properly. "I'm Mike."

"Hi," another boy smiled at him - his mask already forgotten, simply clutched in his hand. "I'm Adam - your parents here too?"

"My dad's here," Mike said, as the other two children there also gathered round to meet the new arrival. "Are yours?"

"Yeah - my mom and dad work at the bar," he pointed over his shoulder with his thumb. "Mr. Anderson didn't mind me coming though - they've worked for him for a while."

"That's my Daddy," a girl informed him. "I'm Gabrielle. You can call me Gabby, if you want," she blushed and looked away from him, causing him to blush slightly as well. "And this is my cousin, Oscar," the boy looked to be about 6 and held on tightly to Gabby's hand shyly. "His mom's my auntie."

"So this is your dad's party?" Mike asked, taking his mask off his head entirely and holding it in front of him.

Gabby nodded. "All these people are here to try and be my dad's lawyer."

"My dad's trying," Mike said, fidgeting uncomfortably.

"I hope he wins," she said, surprisingly. "If he's as nice as you."

Mike blushed again and looked over at Adam, unsure of what to do now. "Cool mask," the other boy said helpfully, taking it and looking at it. "My mom only gave me a Zorro mask. Can I try it on?" Mike nodded and smiled as a small Batman appeared before him. Adam giggled and raised his arms, standing up tall and making Oscar giggle slightly.

"My Daddy got me a real mask," Gabby told Mike, carefully pulling it over her face. Stones flashed in the glittering light of the ballroom and one graceful feather on each side descended down to frame her face.

"I like it," Mike told her, smiling. And he did - it was a lot less scary than the other masks in the room. Reminded of this he glanced around, nerves crumbling slightly as the masks seemed to swarm him.

He really just wanted his Dad...

"We're about to play hide and seek - you wanna join in?" Adam offered.

"Uh... Yeah, okay," Mike nodded, taking his mask back from Adam.

Batman wasn't scared of anything.

Except, it seemed, small, dark cupboards just off ballrooms. It was the perfect hiding place; Adam would never find him. He breathed slowly, just vaguely hearing sounds from the ballroom escaping from the doors.

After nearly five minutes Mike got bored and quickly left, thankful to get out where it was light. Unfortunately, he was also in the thoroughfare for staff - who had all been instructed to wear masks too - and they had all bought the same one to make them easier to identify. They were simply white masks; no expression on them whatsoever.

And it freaked Mike the hell out.

"Hey, kid, you're not allowed back here," one of them said, pointing to him. He felt adrenaline rush through him and could feel damp prickling on the back of his neck.

"C'mon, son, let's get you back to the party," another walked forward with his hand out, ready to escort Mike back, but he gave a cry and bolted, quickly running back into the ballroom - straight into the lion's den.

He couldn't tell if people were looking at him or not, their expressionless faces simply stared at him; he felt tears slowly rising in his eyes and his head whipped around to see if he could catch a glimpse of Harvey anywhere.

He finally thought he could spot Louis' mask and and pushed through the crowd, breathing heavily. "Louis!" He managed to reach the man and thwacked into him, clutching desperately.

"Mike?" Louis looked confused - as far as he could tell, from the mask. "What's wrong?"

"Do you know where my Dad is?" Mike croaked.

"Uh, I think he's with Jessica - I think they're still talking to Mr. Anderson. What happened?" Mike shook his head and tried to pull away to find Harvey. "Woah, slow down," Louis grabbed hold of him. "Come on, we'll both go find him."

Mike sniffed and nodded, hiding his face in Louis' side as he had been planning on doing when he found Harvey. "What's wrong, Mike?" Louis asked, searching the vast room for Harvey.

"I don't like the masks!" Mike wailed, wiping his nose slightly on Louis' jacket.

"Oh," Louis nodded as if he understood perfectly and patted his shoulder slightly. "It's okay, they can't hurt you."

"I know!" Mike cried. "I'm not stupid!"

"I know you're not," Louis said quickly, frantically searching for Harvey. "You're very clever and you just have an irrational phobia and... you're wiping your nose on my suit," he said indignantly, quickly going silent because of the look Mike gave him. He cast another glance across the sea of people before breathing out in relief. "There he is," Louis pointed out. As soon as Mike caught sight of him he pulled on Louis, trying to reach Harvey as quickly as possible.

When he was finally close, Louis let go of him and sidled up next to Jessica as Mike quickly ran into Harvey, throwing his arms around him and not letting go. "Dad!"

Harvey's eyes widened and he looked over at Louis, having seen him arrive with Mike. "What? Why do you always think I've done something to him, Harvey?" Louis squawked.

"What's wrong?" Harvey asked Mike, rubbing a soothing circle on his back. "Sorry about this, Mr. Anderson."

The man just shook his head, looking amused, before he was simultaneously attacked with a hug. "Daddy!" Gabby buried her face in Anderson's suit.

"What's up, princess?" He asked her, brushing her blonde, Shirley Temple-esque curls to one side so he could see her face.

"We were playing hide n' seek, and we lost our new friend Mike!" She told him, with small nods from Adam and Oscar as back-up behind her.

"Mike?" Harvey looked down. "Were you playing hide and seek?" Mike nodded, sniffing. He just wanted to get out of the room and away from the masks. "Did you hide somewhere you weren't supposed to?" He asked, rolling his eyes. Mike shrugged.

"Mike!" Gabby said happily, finally realising he was there. "Found you! It's my turn now!" Anderson smiled but shushed her, watching with some concern as Harvey managed to pull Mike away from him and knelt so that he was looking up slightly at the boy.

"What's wrong?" He asked, not expecting Mike to glance around and burst into tears, throwing his arms around Harvey's shoulders so that the man couldn't stand up without taking the kid with him.

"I don't like the masks!" He wailed for the second time that night. "Please, Daddy, can we go home? I wanna leave!"

Harvey sighed as he rubbed Mike's back. He almost blamed himself for Mike's current condition. He should have known that he might not like the masks - the kid was scared of clown make up and it was along the same lines, really. "Okay, buddy; we can go. We're going. You need to let go though; I can't carry you out."

Mike sniffed and slowly pulled away, looking at the floor instead. "Mr. Anderson," Harvey said. "It was lovely to meet you, but I'm going to need to leave - my son doesn't like the masks."

"But I liked Mike!" Gabby said, looking heartbroken. "Daddy, you should make Mike's daddy your lawyer! I wanna see Mike again!"

Anderson shook his head, chuckling. "Okay, Gabs, okay. Mr Specter - I would like to talk more about what your firm has to offer - even before my little chatterbox interrupted," his eyes sparkled to show he didn't really mind. "Can I drop round during next week?" He asked. "And maybe Gabrielle and Mike can play more?"

"Sounds good," Harvey nodded, running his fingers through Mike's hair to comfort him, eager to leave and help the boy calm down. "Here's my card; you can arrange a time with my assistant," he managed to get a card out from his jacket and gave it to the man, smiling. "Jessica," Harvey nodded at her, before turning to Louis. "Thanks," he said grudgingly. "For helping him find me."

Louis nodded but didn't say anything.

"Okay, Mikey," Harvey said. "Just hold my hand, you don't need to look at the masks, okay? Just look at the floor," Harvey slowly manoeuvred Mike through the building and outside, bundling him into the car.

It wasn't until they were both strapped in and Harvey was starting the engine that Mike finally opened his eyes from where he had squeezed them shut inside. "You're okay," Harvey breathed out, rubbing Mike's cheek with his thumb as his hand cupped the side of his face and the back of his neck. "You're fine."

Mike slowly changed into his pyjamas when they got back to the condo. As much as he loved his Iron Man pyjamas, Harvey insisted on washing them, so he was in his second favourite pair - Spiderman (okay, third favourite, but Batman was in the wash as well). He crept into the living room as Harvey was pulling off his bow tie and just throwing it into his room, letting it land on the bed with his mask.

"I'm sorry, Dad," Mike said quietly, going over to sit next to the man on the couch. He was holding a squashy triceratops toy he had gotten when he was younger and was hugging it hard.

"What for?" Harvey leant back, turning to face Mike. He smiled at the toy. "I haven't seen Toppy in a while," he said softly, pulling Mike closer so he had his arm around him.

"Just found her," Mike mumbled.

"I think that means we need to tidy your room soon, doesn't it?" Harvey asked, tapping his nose slightly. Mike shrugged and folded inwards, pulling both legs onto the couch and was before long lying sideways, his head on Harvey's lap. "Come on, Mike," Harvey said, patting his arm. "Why are you sorry?"

"I pulled you away from your party," he said in a quiet voice. "I know it was important, I'm sorry. I should've just gone outside or kept quiet - I embarrassed you."

"Hey - you did exactly the right thing," Harvey told him, squeezing his upper arm. "I'm proud that you came to me rather than trying to go outside on your own - and I'd rather you told me if something had upset you."

"But you couldn't do anything about it," Mike whispered, hiding his face in his toy.

"I could get you out of there so you wouldn't be scared anymore," Harvey said. "And don't you ever think that I'm embarrassed by you again - you got that?"

"But I made a scene," Mike mumbled, reiterating Donna's favourite phase; e.g, 'Mike, stop *insert appropriate wrong-doing here* you're making a scene!'

"No you didn't, buddy," Harvey soothed him. "No one noticed."

"I did it in front of Mr. Anderson!" Mike argued. "It was really important and I messed it up!"

"Believe it or not, kid," Harvey said, soothingly stroking his hair. "You helped."

"I did?" Mike turned wide, disbelieving eyes up to Harvey.

"Yup," Harvey nodded. "He likes that we seem like a caring firm."

Mike giggled. "You don't like caring."

"And don't you forget it," Harvey gently prodded him in the side, causing the little boy to squirm and giggle. "And look - we managed to get our night together after all. What do you want to do?"

Mike shrugged, looking at the time. "It's late," he frowned. "I have to go to school tomorrow."

"You're more ahead of your class than the teacher is," Harvey said, rolling his eyes. "I doubt missing a day or two will hurt."

"You're letting me cut?" Mike asked, scrambling up in his seat excitedly.

"Only if you come to work with me, and do homework while you're there. Deal?" Harvey never had any doubt that Mike would refuse his offer.

"Deal!" Mike bounced happily. "Can we watch a film?"

"Sure, kiddo," Harvey agreed, letting Mike do all the legwork of choosing a DVD and slotting it in. "You want take-out for dinner?" It was already 9 and their dinner wouldn't get there till about quarter to 10 if they ordered now. Mike would be falling asleep where he stood about an hour after that but that would be fine; Harvey had put him to bed plenty of times before while he was practically comatose - one more time wouldn't make that much difference.

"Daddy, do you wanna watch The Avengers 2 or Iron Man 4?" Mike asked, looking over at him.

Please no more superhero films - I will give both legs and an arm for a different film - was what Harvey wanted to say, but nothing in the world would drag that out of him. "Whichever you want, Mike."

A/N So I'm thinking that these lucky sods in the future already have Avengers 2 and Iron Man 4 :P Hope you enjoyed :)

Harvey's mask (ish):
www . amasquerade images / products / masks / sole_silver . jpg