Uneven Odds

Chapter the Twenty-Fifth

"Jessica, Darby, good morning" Harvey greets with a wide smile on his face. On his right side, Peter is smirking away, looking like a cartoon villain. It's fitting, somehow. Not as good as Mike smirking, because Mike has that angelic thing going on for him that makes the smirk a warning sign, whereas Peter smirking is just his natural state of being, but either way, it's good.

"I don't remember having an appointment with you this morning, Mister Specter" Darby says, sipping some tea. Jessica looks annoyed as hell, not only because the man is greeting people at her office, but also at the whole drinking tea thing. This is not Downton Abbey after all – it is a Law firm.

"Oh, I'm sure you didn't because we don't have one, but we will find time in our busy schedules to talk some things over, once and for all."

"What is going on, Harvey?"

The Lawyer turns to look at his boss and smiles at her, putting a pile of files in front of her.

"I may have been out of line with the way I dealt with things before the merger happened, but I had my reasons, and honestly? I've been punished for them, not only in this firm, but also in life. I wouldn't do any of those things again, and I learned from my mistakes, but I haven't gone soft, or turned into a weakling. By the end of this talk, Jessica, I am either going to have my name on that wall, or you are going to release me from my non-competitive clause and let me leave. One of those two things is going to happen, and the reason they are going to happen is in those files, files that prove, beyond any doubt, that this man over here is as dirty as a Game of Thrones character, and we all know that in that show no one is clean."

"I'm listening" she answers, as Darby goes a little bit pale.

Truth is that most of those files aren't even supposed to exist, and Harvey is determined not to question how they came into being, or how they even ended up in Peter's hands. As Stiles had said, Peter would probably want something from them at some point – or maybe it would be Derek he would ask, but the whole thing turned out to be truth.

Every single file, every small dirty thing that Darby had done on his way to the top, was there, documented and proved.

Of course, it had been years since his last dirty dealing, but it didn't make them go away, and it wouldn't harm the firm's image any less – it wasn't fair, but it was something that Harvey was willing to do to settle this once and for all. And, of course, the things Darby had done were pretty serious. Blackmailing of jury, missing evidence, bribery and so on and so forth. When his office started to grow, he stopped with this kind of dealing, and became a righteous man, somewhat, but the stain was there, and in a business like theirs, the smallest inkling of dirt was dirt enough to take them all down.

"So, here's the thing. You can leave his name on the office in name only, and put me in there too; or you release me from my contract, and I leave, to open my own firm. I mean, I won't have much business at first, but I can hold my own until Mike graduates and starts working with me, and I'm sure I can persuade a lot of people to work for me once I start to grow."

"And if we refuse?" Jessica asks, but from the glint in her eyes Harvey knows he has her – she is enjoying this. She likes seeing him win.

"If you refuse, this whole thing goes public" he shrugs, carelessly, "I mean, I know I won't be released, but I figure that as soon as this whole firm has to be shut down from lack of clients, there won't be anything to be released from, is there?"

"We will talk this over, but I'm sure you know you won, Harvey" she says, and Harvey smiles at her benignly, getting up to leave, Peter by his side, "Just… one more thing before you go."

He turns around and stares at his boss.

"Where do you find your associates?"

Harvey smirks at her.

"Oh, they are all like family."

By the end of the day, there's a new name by the door, with a new plaque on the wall.

PEARSON SPECTER DARBY

All in all it's a pretty good way to end the day.

X

"We are all in need of a good celebratory dinner, because my name is on that wall" he announces as soon as he gets home.

Mike startles a bit and runs to him, kissing him in greeting, and Stiles hugs him tightly, clapping him on the back.

He imagined this moment a thousand times in his head for the longest time, ever since he started working at Pearson Hardman, really. He thought about a huge party, women all over him, or maybe a private kind of affair, few people he actually liked. Dinner with Donna, maybe. Something fancy and important, and full of smoky rooms and expensive whisky being had by a whole lot of people who would only have to bow to him on his way to the very top.

He never quite pictured it eating take out in his apartment with his boyfriend, his teen brother and his secretary, sitting on the floor.

It felt, however, better than anything he could have imagined or hoped for.

"So, what Peter gave you was good, then?" Stiles asks some time that night, when they have all eaten enough, and are just kind of lying around and watching a movie.

"Yes. It was perfectly in order. How he got those files is a mystery to me, and I think I'm better off not knowing."

"As this is about Peter, yes, I agree with you."

"What is the deal with Peter, though?" Donna asks, "I mean, apart from being a werewolf?"

Stiles chokes on his food, and Mike almost drops the glass he's holding, as Harvey just kind of thinks that they should have expected her to know. What doesn't she know, after all?

"Honestly, if you didn't want me finding out, you shouldn't have any conversation in your office. I heard him talking to you, telling you that being a werewolf has a lot of perks. I confronted him about it, and he told me. Now what is his deal, because he asked me out, and I'm not too keen on investing a whole date into someone who's bad news."

"Oh, God, why does he do this?" Stiles mourns, and Donna just stares at him until he starts talking, "Look, he's not a good guy, okay? Any other woman and I would be warning them to stay the hell away from him, because he could probably eat them alive, but you are different, and you'll probably keep him on his toes. Just… be careful. And never take him at face value. He can be a good guy if he wants to, the thing is that he almost never wants to, and even when he does, he always has some ulterior motive."

"How do you know him, Stiles?" Donna asks, and the teen looks at Harvey, who shrugs – it's his story to tell, if he wants to, he can tell it.

"His whole family got burned down, and he was stuck in a coma for six years. Then he woke up delirious, killed his Alpha, who was also his niece, bit my best friend, and we killed him a few weeks after that. He came back because he infected another one of my friends with his memories or something, and as she is a banshee, she brought him back. Now, he's actually good, because he's not crazy anymore, just incredibly manipulative."

"He was dead?" she asks, as if she got stuck on that part and didn't really hear anything past that.

Mike reaches out and pats her on the shoulder.

"You get used to it, don't worry."

So, apparently, this is their lives now.

If he might say so himself, it's pretty good.

X

"We seriously need to talk" Harvey says as Stiles is getting ready for bed, and the teen startles, not expecting a conversation – it's late, and he has school in the morning.

Honestly, it's like this week just won't end.

"Okay" he agrees, sitting on his bed. His brother closes the door and sits too, looking concerned.

Stiles has to admit he's a bit confused by this. The worst is past them, everything is out in the open, there's no reason for Harvey to look concerned now.

"What's up?"

"The night you told us everything, I got extremely upset and it wasn't because of you. I need you to know this, always. When I'm upset with you, you'll know it, Stiles, and I'll always give you a chance to explain yourself before blaming you. I left because I thought that staying and saying what I was thinking would only upset you further, and you were already distressed enough."

"You were blaming my dad" he says quietly, and Harvey just stares, not really confirming it, but it isn't necessary, "I get it. I don't really… I don't like thinking about it, Harvey. He was everything I had for the longest time, and I had to take care of him, because watching mom waste away was too painful, I couldn't risk losing him too. If it wasn't for you, I don't think anyone would have got me through his death. I watched both my parents die, alone, with no one to turn to, and I don't want their memories to be bad ones. So, yeah, I get it why you'd blame him, and I don't agree with you, but I'm not going to try and defend him, because it won't change anything now. I know the father I had, and I know the mother I had, and you'll never know them as I did. Not in the same way. It's… not worth it."

Harvey nods somberly, letting it go, apparently, but Stiles has the feeling this is not all.

"That was one thing I had to clear up. The second is that when things get bad, Stiles, you can't run away like you did, ever again. I honestly thought I was going to die, I was scared like I've never been before in my life, and I can't go through that again."

"It's not going to happen again. I think I just… Everything hit me at once, Harvey. All of it. I freaked out."

"And ran to Derek" Harvey's voice is neutral, not a single inflexion in it, and Stiles knows this is bad. Harvey is using his Lawyer voice.

"He's…" he can't go on, because he doesn't know what Derek is. He doesn't even know what he wants Derek to be, really.

It's all very confusing.

"I can't ignore the fact that he's an Alpha werewolf, which is a thing I'm still having trouble believing is actually coming out of my mouth; and also that he is six years older than you" Stiles sighs, waiting for the next part, where Harvey will tell him he better stay away from Derek, "However, I also can't ignore the fact that even though he treated you terribly, that he broke up with you, that he never once contacted you in four months, he was the one you felt was safe enough to be with when, just as you put it, you freaked out. When everything was too much, you trusted him to be with you, and that tells me that whatever it is that you two had – or maybe have – is big and strong, and I have a feeling I can't really fight against it. Not if you really want to be with him."

"I don't know if I do" he whispers, looking down for a bit, and then looking back at his brother, "We… Our first kiss, my first kiss ever, by the way, happened when we were arguing, Harvey. It was all so… life or death, you know? The Alphas were after us, and we were always losing so badly, and then Derek was just there, even when Scott left me behind, Derek never did. We worked, and I… I love him" he says, swallowing hard, "But I don't know how we'd work in the real world, without running for our lives. I don't know if we can, you know, do this… right. Normal. I don't know if we can do normal, and I want that. I don't want to go back to the madness" he stops for a second, laughing quietly and bitterly for a second, "I don't even know if maybe… If we do get back together, and he sees that he can do a lot better than me? I mean, have you seen him? And what if we get back together and he doesn't love me anymore, because all we had was this desperate need to live while we could, because we could die any second? What if it was all nothing more than adrenaline rush for him?" he goes quiet again, looking back at Harvey, "What if it was nothing more than adrenaline rush for me?"

"I can't tell you I'm happy with this, because I'm not thrilled at you dating anyone" Harvey starts, "I had a problem with that Tony kid, and he was your age. But I do think you're insane for thinking Derek could ever do any better than you. Come on, Stiles. You think Elizabeth Marshal Simmons would let anyone hang around her, be the King to her Queen if you weren't the best of the best?" Stiles laughs a little at that, and Harvey keeps going, "As for not knowing what you two are for each other… You won't find that out by staying away from him, and not finding that out won't let you move on, Stiles. You have to… see where this goes, and if the end is where this is headed, let it end. But give it closure. You need that. Derek probably needs that too. I can't imagine what you two have been through together, but I'm sure it left its marks on both of you, and you need to solve this to move on with your lives, be it together or apart, but you need this closure."

Stiles sighs deeply, and keeps quiet for a long moment before speaking again.

"Does this mean I have your permission to date a guy six years older than me?"

Harvey scoffs.

"No. You have my permission to see if you actually want to date Derek Hale, and him alone. After we figure that out, we can talk about you dating him. Or anyone else, for that matter" he pauses for a bit, frowning, "What happened to Tony, anyway?"

Stiles rubs the back of his neck, a bit sheepish.

"Well, he left me at the party, so it could have blemished Lizzie's rep, because, you know, her right hand man being dumped? Not cool. So she spread the rumor that I was seeing an older man, and Tony couldn't compete. He's cool with it, though, he doesn't really care about being popular and such" he shrugs by the end.

"And you do?" Harvey asks, and Stiles actually has to think before answering.

"I used to, a lot, when I wasn't, funnily enough. Now it's just… it's easier being with Lizzie than struggling without her. I actually like her. It's all very weird."

"As long as you're happy, kid."

Stiles smiles at his brother, half raising from the bed to hug him tightly.

He never thought he'd be happy again, but somehow, he is managing.

Harvey leaves him to sleep a few moments after that, and he takes his phone, staring at it for the longest moment, before pulling up Derek's new number.

Can we talk tomorrow? I'm free after 5.

He puts the phone in mute, and goes to sleep.

He feels confident enough that he doesn't have to wait for the answer to know that tomorrow they'll talk.

Hopefully, things will end well – no matter how the talk goes.

Hoping is pretty much all he can do now, right?