"Donna!"
Harvey calls out her name again, his heart beating frantically as he deftly fumbles with the small and awkward weight wedged in his hands. Samantha had thrust the utility knife from the corner of her glove box at him, and he'd taken the object, because despite it being no match for a gun, it was something, and right now it's everything. His only way to help Donna, who's in no condition to fight back against Harris. He can't see her face, just the way her arm falls limply in defeat, and he jerks hard, causing the bindings to finally snap. The knife clatters to the floor but he leaves it, launching himself at the agent with full force. Rage and hatred blinding any sense.
He's not interested in the gun. Only ripping the man away from Donna, and he crashes them both to the ground, knocking the wind out of Harris and taking the first swing, then another, connecting brutally with the man's face. He said he was going to break every bone in the agent's pathetic body, and the urge is overwhelming, even as Landon hooks a punch of his own, the impact ricocheting painfully through his jaw. The agent might be field trained, but Harvey's boxed enough not to be dazed by the hit or the blood he can taste. It incites him more, and when Harris pulls his gun, Harvey throws him, retracting his arm and delivering a blow that sends the man's head cracking into the hard-wood floor. The weapon clatters between them, but the agent doesn't get back up, and a deafening silence rings in Harvey's ears. He wipes his mouth, gaze swimming and chest heaving as he takes the weapon, spinning in search of Donna, panic quickly replacing his anger.
She's crumpled in a heap where Harris let go, and he scrambles across, searching for a sign she's okay, but there's nothing to convince him she is. She's completely still, her face unnaturally pale beneath her fiery red hair, and he lands, sweeping it back to try and rouse her. "Donna," he chokes out her name, but can't manage any other words, stumbling his fingers across the marks around her neck in search of a pulse. They're shaking so badly he can't tell if there's movement beneath them, and slides down to her wrist, pressing until he feels a flutter that doesn't do a damn thing to calm him. He doesn't know if she's breathing and races back to her mouth, trying to recall basic first-aid from his scrambled memories but she gasps first, her upper body tensing and expelling too much oxygen that floods her lungs all at once. The sound hammers through him, and his palm flattens against her spine, supporting her while she tries to find a normal rhythm again.
She grips his shirt, disorientated, her throat burning as if it's on fire and she flutters her hand up wincing as it brushes the tender skin.
He catches her fingers, a pained look in his gaze as he pulls them down, taking in the bruising. "Are you okay?" The question catches, and even though she manages a nod, he knows she isn't, and his concern flips like a switch back to anger. If Samantha hadn't shoved the knife in his grasp or if Harris had applied any more pressure, fuck, he wants to kill the goddamn son-of-a-bitch, and his fist instinctively curls at Donna back.
She watches his eyes snap to where the agent is lying, croaking a hoarse plea to stop him from doing anything stupid. "Harvey, don't." His muscles stay tense around her, and she fights through her dizziness, through the fear pitted in her stomach. He just assaulted a federal agent and is on the verge of snapping again. If she doesn't do something, he's going to make things a thousand times worse than they already are, and she clambers out of his arms, knowing if she can find Landon's phone the recording might be enough to get him to protect him.
It takes him a full second to register her pulling away but when he does his attention flies back to her, worry smothering anything else. She's too groggy to be on her feet, barely conscious as it is, and he slips in front of her, placing his hands over her shoulders. "Hey, slow down, what are you doing?"
"We need his phone."
She's almost frantic in her attempt to push passed but he doesn't let go, fully focused on her. "Donna, stop, look at me."
Her breath hitches wanting, needing, to help him, and when his palm slides against her cheek forcing her gaze, guilt turns her stomach.
"Forget about that." He cuts off whatever protest is coming. She'd nearly gotten herself killed because of the goddamn recording and it's the last thing he cares about. "What happened, what did he do?"
The question is laced with concern and she shakes her head. Aside from almost strangling her and setting Harvey up for life in prison, nothing.
"He gave you something," he says, trying to draw it out of her and scanning her pupils. They're still wide as saucers, the second time in a week she's been drugged, and he shifts his hands down checking for anything he might have missed.
"I'm fine." She pushes his forearms back, the weak attempt not convincing but it's all she can do to force their bearings. He's more steady than she is and should be trying to come up with a plan. "We need to fix this."
He hates that she's right, that they can't just take a moment so he can properly check she's okay. He'd sent Harris down hard and could give a shit if the man ever wakes up again but if he does, Harvey wants the agent as far away from Donna as humanly possible, and he takes the gun from his waistband, stretching the barrel toward her. "You know how to use it?"
She glances at Landon then back to the weapon. She does. Though the thought of firing it at a living person is entirely different, but she will if she has to, and takes it from his grasp. He trusts her. She can see it reflected in his gaze, and knowing she just helped seal his fate winds a tight knot in her throat. "I'm sorry."
The apology makes him freeze, the fact she would feel any guilt for what just happened tearing through him. She did what he asked her to, what he begged her to do, and the only thing she can be blamed for is being too good of an actress. That's not her fault and he holds her gaze seriously. "You did nothing wrong, okay?"
She doesn't know how he can say that when she just painted him as some kind of murderous villain, someone she's afraid of. If what she said hurts him in any way she'll never forgive herself, but she keeps the thought to herself as he pushes up, her eyes falling back to Landon's crumpled body. If they lost his confession or if he doesn't regain consciousness she knows exactly how it's going to look; like Harvey came here, found her making the video, and beat Harrison within an inch of his life before threatening her to take it all back.
If the agent doesn't wake up, he and Stephen could still achieve everything they set out to, all because she'd let herself be manipulated. Catalina hadn't been her fault but this is. She's responsible for leaving Harvey at the station, for going with Landon when her instincts told her not to, and she blinks back fresh, real tears, her grip tightening around the gun. She can hear Harvey behind her when he calls an ambulance, Samantha, then the police, and she knows she should look for the missing phone but can't bring herself to move.
She has no concept of how long he's talking for. It could be minutes or hours that she's sat, trying to pull air in and out of her lungs until his face blocks her view from Landon. The agent still hasn't moved and the urge to check on him, to protect Harvey at all costs finally brings her out of the trance as she attempts to scramble around him.
"Donna, no." He stops her, being as gentle as he can. There's nothing either of them can do at this point. What's done is done. He doesn't regret it and she sure as hell shouldn't either. "It'll be okay, I promise."
She swallows thickly, not convinced, but when he prises the gun from her hands, she relinquishes it, the weight of her exhaustion and his arms wrapping around her making it too easy to give in.
He hugs her tightly, thanking god he can, knowing whatever's going to happen she's safe. As much as it pained him to do it, he's already entrusted her care to Samantha because even if they find the phone in one piece, he's still going to have to explain himself. He's not naive enough to assume he won't be hauled straight back into an interrogation room but in the meantime, all he wants to do is hold the woman who means everything close to him.
"We'll be okay." He whispers the assurance again, pressing his lips to her hair. He wants to say they've been through worse, that they'll figure it out like they always do, but he doesn't dare tempt fate, not after being blindsided by so many things out of his control recently. The important thing is that they're both still here, and he clings to the notion, breathing her in until the moment his apartment erupts into a scene of chaos.
The paramedics arrive first, followed closely by Samantha and then the police who act exactly as he expects them to. They're in no way inclined to listen, but he doesn't fight their advance or Donna's protest when he's forced back into handcuffs. The truth will come out, or it won't, but he makes sure Samantha knows what to do, his voice hoarse as he tears his gaze away from Donna. "Look after her."
Samantha nods, her own emotions close to the surface as he's led out, Harris being wheeled along on a stretcher behind him. There are still officers mulling around, gathering evidence, but she fully intends to keep her promise and fixes her gaze on Donna, who is leaning heavily against the dining table and refusing any help. Samantha is beside her in an instant, her tone fuelled with concern. "Donna..."
"Landon's phone has a recording-" she pushes out her determination, "he admitted everything."
It doesn't surprise Samantha that Harvey omitted the detail. His only focus since the moment he'd called had been Donna, just like redhead is doing all she can for him now, and Samantha moves around the table, looking for the piece of evidence. She finds it laying with a cracked screen beneath the far chair, and she curses under her breath, slipping the phone into her pocket away from prying eyes. After everything they've all been through today she doesn't trust the police, but if there's a way to clear Harvey's name, she's going to find it.
"Samantha."
Donna stares up at her, desperation wound tightly in her expression, and she feels for the woman, in the same way she'd felt for Harvey before he'd been dragged out. She's never met two people more determined to protect each to their own detriment, and she isn't about to let either one of them suffer for it.
"I'll take care of it but whatever Harris gave you, it's still in your system. That can help Harvey."
It's the one thing she knows will make Donna relent, and the redhead does, allowing the paramedic at her side to help. While she's distracted, Samantha pulls out her own cell breathing an inward sigh of relief. This isn't what she signed on for when she joined ZSL but it's where her heart lies now, and she calls Robert and Louis to take her place at the hospital.
Because even though she'd told Harvey she'd take care of Donna, that means looking out for him too.
They're a package deal.
Just like the rest of the firm are, and she might not have known what she was getting herself into, but she wouldn't turn her back on them for anything.
