A/N: Yay! I'm freaking back!

Part 2 is M rated for sexual content. Feel free to skip it, since it is not necessary for the understanding of this story. Also, feel free to read it to quench your thirsty mind. ;)

12

Part 1

The voices of your soul

Harvey was homeless. He had gathered some of his suits and essentials and moved to a four-star hotel, where he'd been living for the past month. He would have to buy more clothes eventually, since he had only four in his hotel room.

He couldn't sleep in the house that had been theirs, and he couldn't call it his home anymore. Regret of meeting Paula not only tainted all his good memories in that place, but it also clouded his judgement.

Which was why he'd found himself in sweats throwing fuel at the room he used to sleep in. The smell of gasoline filled his senses and left him lightheaded, albeit not preventing him from soaking her pastel skirts, woolen shirts and his Tom Ford suits.

Harvey, Jessica and Samantha, with the help of the FBI, managed to move forward Paula's and the clinic's hearing to the day prior. Therefore, it was needless to say everyone was affected by the scientists' and funder's confessions.

…

Two weeks before the trial.

Simon and Daemon Ainsworth, two loaded English brothers, inherited a lot of money from their deceased grandparents. Before their death, the old couple took up their responsibility to house the twin brothers as their own when their parents died, when they were only preteens. Their parent's deaths were still a mystery.

They were brought up by the housekeepers and cooks of the family. Though remarkably brilliant, their sense of empathy and community was lacking. Only the employers of the household noticed their odd behavior, despite the fact the brothers never managed to keep their pets alive for more than a few weeks.

When in high school, they were always involved in serious incidents associated with the school lab. One episode in particular had them expelled from their school and a girl trapped in a wheelchair for life. No one ever found the truth about what happened that day. What they did know was that the twin brothers were homeschooled after that, and the injured girl's silence was bought by their wealthy grandparents.

In college, Simon pursued a medical career, while his brother, a psychology degree.

They built a clinic called SD-6 together, and when one of their patient's sons sued them for running illegal tests on his sickened father, the twins went off the radar. SD-6 was closed, and no one heard of the twin brothers again, until now. In the past week, they had been all over the news as the Crazy Twin Scientists.

According to some websites, the brothers had help from other doctors they had gone to college with. Paula Agard was one of the doctors that conducted the experiments, tests and psychology analyses on the victims they cherry picked from the street. This doctor, however, dropped out from the crazy experiments when she was assigned to evaluate one of the victims' family members and ended up marrying the guy. Dr. Agard kept her past a secret until one of the patients, the very one that belonged to her husband's family, escaped from the clinic and managed to get their face on a newspaper.

This patient was eventually captured again, had their memory erased, but the study had been compromised already. The twin brothers didn't kill her only because this patient was considered their most promising subject. It was basically like the patient could read minds or something."

That was the story the guy waiting in line at the coffee shop struggled to believe, and he quickly questioned his female colleague who was telling him about it.

"Read minds?" The guy at the coffee shop asked the brunette who was holding a newspaper and telling him the crazy story she just read. "Now you're just making up," the guy said, grabbing the paper from the tall woman and scanning the article.

"Hey!" She complained, but let the man see for himself. Her bright black hair tied in a ponytail swung from one side to the other as she shook her head disapprovingly.

"Damn! This woman is hot! Can you imagine being this hot and even being able to read minds?" He laughed and glanced at his friend mischievously.

Their banter intrigued Thomas as he waited behind the couple. The line to get a simple latte was huge in a rush hour, but both friends didn't seem to notice.

"I am just as hot! I just can't read minds…" She shrugged and slapped her friend on the forearm, making him grin at her. She picked up the paper back from him and opened it wider to look at the big picture displayed in front of her.

Thomas gasped when he saw Donna's beautiful features imprinted in the black and white sheet of paper.

"Excuse me, can I see that for a second?" Thomas asked the woman in front of him, pointing at the article and then just snatching the paper for himself.

"Sure…" The woman answered with a frown, receiving a quizzical look from her friend, who just murmured in her ear a "coo-coo".

…

Harvey could still hear the sickening words his ex-wife had said in court and remembered the look of terror on Donna's face. He knew Paula was probably a sociopath, as one of the government psychiatrists, who examined everyone involved, claimed. However, her diagnoses didn't erase the afflicting statements that came out of someone that mere months ago he could've sworn was a kind-hearted person. He sat on his former bed and stared at the ruined wardrobe and clothing.

"We could have changed the world. A few lives for the lives of million others. Imagine if we could reboot someone that has done something bad and still preserve their essence? If we were successful, we could have made the world a better place…" Paula admitted to the jury, without a hint of regret.

Harvey shook his head in disbelief. She truly believed she was being a good person, only to have the twin brothers who funded the clinic discredit her assumptions.

"My brother and I..." Simon said, "we started the project with one goal and one goal only: sell this project to whoever could pay more. We would have our names in the drugs developed and we could use them in war zones and in creating perfect soldiers. Soldiers with no memories of what they saw, only to follow orders without questioning and still preserving their best abilities."

"What's the difference between our project and the creation of a fire gun? None! You're all concerned about the project because there has been some collateral damage," Daemon completed with a shrug, "but I have to remind you that no major steps for humankind have been made without collateral damage."

Harvey swallowed hard the lump that formed in his throat, feeling a shiver run down his spine. He still didn't know how Donna escaped their facilities, nor how she got onto a plane and managed to appear in a newspaper in the US. She probably had help from someone on the inside, and whoever helped her, he would be forever thankful.

He sighed and stood up. Still absently toying with the lighter in one hand and a gallon in the other, he moved to the study and started soaking the psychology and law books, then the desk he had fucked Paula on.

…

It had been two weeks since Thomas knocked on her door with a newspaper in hand, asking why her face was printed in it, and if she could actually read minds. Donna could almost laugh at his antics if it wasn't for the fact she could already feel their relationship was doomed.

She tried to explain what had happened and why she didn't tell him, but didn't have all the answers. Sure, a few things were still unanswered, but at least now, after the trial, she knew why and who did all those things to her.

Before the trial even took place, her face was plastered all over the news. She was pictured as a martyr, with superpowers, who defeated a group of crazy scientists. It wouldn't be weird if some newspapers and tv shows asked her for an interview, Samantha told her, but all she wanted was to find out all there was to know and move on.

She thought about the possibility of moving on with Thomas, but his expression told her he could never look at her the same way he had before. His knuckles were white as they gripped the newspaper, as if the piece of evidence was going to escape from his grasp. Donna could only sigh and let the man say what he had to say.

"I'm here, no matter what." He assured her he would take care of her and be by her side with so much tenderness that it almost broke her heart. But then it came, the pitying look and the small tilt of his head, and that made her burst with what she knew was inevitable.

"I'm sorry, Thomas. I just can't."

And that was the end of their two-month relationship. He even asked her if she needed time, but she didn't. She wanted to move on with someone that wasn't basing their opinion on what they read. Donna being Donna, she just knew Thomas could never move past that. She would never be able to let him in and he would eventually realise it was actually too much too soon for a new relationship to handle.

Harvey, however, was a whole other story. After meeting Paula at the precinct, she saw him back at the office wearing his usual Tom Ford suit and a slighted twisted blue tie. He seemed concerned about her injured hand, which had needed stitches and was wrapped in a bandage. He had sat on the corner of her desk, looked in her eyes and taken her fingers into his for close examination. Donna still could feel the tingles from his touch and his burning gaze. The sensation only added to guilt when Thomas appeared at her door, when she was still with him, breaking her moment with Harvey.

It was before she had broken up with Thomas, but it was difficult to see both men shake hands, but after their encounter she realized Harvey may never be ready for her, for he just stopped talking to her. He wouldn't even look at her face or ask her how she was. It was like he started treating her as a stranger which felt a thousand times worse than if he treated her as an enemy. And now, a month after the two men saw each other, two weeks after her break-up and a day after the trial, she looked for jobs and houses to rent outside of the Big Apple.

Rachel had suggested Seattle, since she and Mike were considering opening a clinic there. She also heard Jessica discuss with Jeff the possibility of going to California. Albeit, both places seemed appealing to her, Donna thought that maybe she needed to move to a place where she could move on her own.

The only problem with moving forward now was the nagging feeling she had about finding out every single detail of what had happened in those fateful two years of her life. Sure, before the trial she just wanted to forget everything and move on with her life, but how was she supposed to have her own life with missing pieces? She couldn't. Not after she found out someone had helped her escape, and not after she knew exactly what she had done as Julia Thorne.

A few sessions with Dr. Lipschitz helped Donna realize that Julia was not a different person, but just a part of herself. Julia was a version of her that was born in contrived circumstances, and denying or neglecting Julia's existence would never be healthy. If she didn't embrace that part of herself, she would probably be haunted forever.

Therefore, England was the best place to find answers. She would go there and find out everything about her other half. She would find out all there was to know about her past. The twin brothers might have destroyed a huge part of the documents before getting caught, which didn't prevent them from going to prison, thank God. But that wouldn't stop her from getting what she needed. And what she needed was closure.

Listen to the voices of your soul

They're trying to tell you

What you already know

Are you trying to be immortal

(Immortal - Beth Hart)

The lighter had a different weight in Harvey's hand. Opening the lid of the silver object, he stared at the flame. It flickered with the breeze coming from one of the open windows, as if it didn't seem threatening. Its blue core was calming while the orange and red danced around, as if mocking his resolve. He shook his head and closed the lid, making the little flame dissipate and leaving him in a darker place. Looking around, he saw it then.

A can-opener.

It was lying peacefully on the kitchen island. It wasn't even close to being as shiny and beautiful as the memories from another time. He came closer to it and examined the object, not daring to touch it. What on earth was it doing there in the first place? He should have seen it before, right? Every time he went to the house, after finding out the things about Paula, he should have seen it, but he hadn't. He should have realized that things would never be the way they were before psychotic therapists and kidnappings. Everything now was just a cheap replacement of what it could have been. But what else would it be? He shook his head again. Things weren't making sense anymore.

He left the object in its resting place, left the empty gallon of fuel he was holding at the foot of the staircase and, without wasting a second longer, threw the lighter with its lid open on the drenched floor. Harvey saw the flames following the trail of fuel. It flickered and danced, hungrily wiping out the carpet on its way. The thick acrid smell of the smoke filled his senses, but he just stared at it while it devoured everything in its path, belching out black. It was majestic.

…

Rachel was lying peacefully on the couch, head resting on her husband's lap while indulging with the latest best seller according to the New York Times. Mike flicked through the pages of a case, memorizing every line with a single glance, and absent-mindedly stroking his wife's soft brown hair. The buzzing of his phone stole the couple's focus from their readings. The brunette reached for the device on the coffee table and handed it to Mike, without even seeing what was written on the lit up screen.

She looked up at her husband's handsome features. His eyes glistened when he stared at their fireplace, listening to the person on the other end of the line. His jaw dropped open, and he stood up fast, almost knocking Rachel out of the couch.

"What? I'm on my way!" He said, hanging up the phone and looking at his wife. Fear etched all over his demeanor.

"Mike?" Rachel pleaded, fear also starting to tingle along her spine.

"It's Harvey. There has been a fire at his and Paula's place…"

…

Mike arrived at what was supposed to be Harvey's house. The fire had engulfed the building from all sides, from the ground to the roof, it was all flames. The deep purple and amber ate up the curtains while firefighters tried to put it out. He heard a crash coming from where the kitchen would be, and the ceiling was brought down in a pile of rubble. The flames licked up the air and Mike felt the urge to vomit thinking about if Harvey had been inside of that place. No one would survive such a thing, and even if someone did, they would never be the same.

Among pairs of curious eyes from the neighbours, Rachel felt her skin burn, and despite the heat she clung on Mike's arm. The firemen were getting the blaze under control, but still viciously destroyed what once had been a perfect house for a family. The smoldering wood and devastation made her think of how everything was fragile, and in the blink of an eye, everything could turn into ashes. Catastrophic was the only word in her mind. She wasn't that close to the fire, but the heat was so intense that she squinted and redirected her gaze to the ambulance on her right.

The back door of an ambulance was open, and Harvey had a blanket around him. Aside from a few dark spots from the smoke around his face and a haunted expression, he seemed uninjured. He stared at the house but seemed to see past the fire.

She touched her husband's shoulder then and indicated towards Harvey was sitting.

Mike approached his best-friend as relief washed over him, cautiously, as if his proximity would scare him away.

"Mind telling what happened here?" Mike inquired, taking a place beside him at the ambulance.

"I set fire to the house," Harvey said, almost matter-of-factly.

"You did that?" The younger lawyer raised a brow in question.

"It's funny what some gasoline and a lighter can do, right?" The older man finally lifted his gaze with a smirk that died after seeing the desperation in his protogé's face.

"You scared me to death, old man."

"I am not suicidal, Mike." Harvey felt the need to add 'anymore' to that statement, but bit his tongue, not wanting to add more dread into the situation.

"The thing is… I really don't care about this house or anything inside it," Harvey explained, "I only care about her."

"I don't think Paula is thrilled in prison, Harvey. I mean… I've been there and I can tell you —"

"I'm not talking about Paula, Mike." Harvey looked into his friend's eyes for a second and then looked at his shoes again.

"Oh."

"Yeah… well… I hope that Thomas guy treats her well."

It was strange to see Harvey like that. The man had just burned down his own house, and now he could only talk about a woman whose hair reminded him of the same fire that engulfed the white walls of the Victorian house. Mike knew that when it came to Donna, Harvey had always behaved unexpectedly. He guessed so many suppressed feelings would do that to a person.

"She's not with Thomas anymore," Mike told him, suddenly sparking something in his friend, who looked back at him as if a light had been switched.

"She's not?" He almost gasped at the words.

"Unless she lied to Rachel, no. They broke up a couple of weeks ago," Mike shrugged.

Harvey stood up, throwing the blanket in the ambulance and storming off, making Mike go after him.

"I'm sorry, Mike. I have to go…"

"Go where?" The young man stopped in his tracks.

"I… just have to."

...

Indulging herself in a warm bath, Donna flickered her eyes open, hearing a sound at her front door. She made a mental note to complain to her landlord and ask him why people seemed able to get into her building without going through the intercom. With a heavy sigh, she wrapped her soaked body in a bathrobe. Tiptoeing, careful to not slip, she spied who it was through the peephole and opened the door. Taking in the man in front of her made her heart stop for a second.

"Did you go through a war zone to get here?" She asked Harvey, not understanding why his face was smeared with ashes. His cheeks were flushed, as if he had spent too much time under the sun, while his pupils were dilated. Through heaving breaths he side-stepped her and entered her apartment without an invitation.

"What the hell happened?" Donna pleaded, closing the door, momentarily forgetting her lack of clothes under her robe and crossing her arms around her chest.

"I burned down my house, but that's not why I'm here—" Harvey started. But she didn't let him finish.

"You burnt your house down?" Her high-pitched voice echoed in the apartment as she approached him, trying to see if he was okay.

"I'm fine, Donna," he explained, already knowing why she was in such a frantic state. "And like I said, that's not why I'm here."

He looked around, as if searching for something or someone, but Donna couldn't quite pinpoint what it was, still focussed on his possible injuries or burns.

"You're alone," he stated the observation. "It's a Saturday and you're alone."

Seeing he wasn't really injured, she sighed and closed her eyes. It was just typical of him, getting distant when she was seeing someone, but never daring to cross a line when she was single.

"Yeah… well… Thomas didn't know everything I went through, and he believed the news when they said I could read minds. So you can imagine -"

Donna didn't get to finish her sentence as his lips crashed on hers. She tried to take a step back, startled by his sudden movement. His mouth, however, didn't leave hers, and his hand on the small of her back prevented her from going anywhere. After a few seconds, her body reacted, and she reached around his neck to deepen the kiss. Their tongues battled for dominance, making her heart soar and stomach flutter. The smell of his cologne, mixed with sweat and smoke, reminded her of the circumstances that led him to her door, acting irrationally. She moved her hand to his chest and stepped back, ungluing their lips and leaving only their foreheads still touching.

"Harvey, I think you're in shock…" She said above a whisper.

"When I saw you with Thomas at the office… I… I had another panic attack." He struggled with the admission and she arched back to take a proper look at him.

"You - "

"Please, let me finish," he begged, clinging onto her and not letting her leave his embrace. "I thought I was losing you all over again, for a completely different reason, and I couldn't bear that. But Mike told me you broke up with Thomas and I… had to do something."

"Harvey…" Donna sighed and clenched her fists at the back of his shirt.

"I looked around the ruins of my burnt down house tonight and nothing mattered, but you. And the hardest thing I've ever had to do was stay with Paula loving you."

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she kissed him, deeply, fully and wholeheartedly.

Part 2

Pleasures

Her fingers were on his hair and shoulder blades, holding and keeping him secure in her embrace. His mouth was everywhere he could touch; lips, forehead, cheek, neck, collarbone. His big hands traced the extent of her arms, her body and then her face. He stopped his ministrations only to look at her, flushed with swollen lips and dilated pupils. The flame he saw behind her gaze melted his resolve and weakened his knees.

He pressed her body with his own against her front door with force, lifting her off the ground with his hands under her backside for support. She gasped and closed her eyes, gathering all her strength not to come right there and then. When mechanically her legs tightened around his waist.

She reached for the waistband of her robe and with a swift motion so it parted easily. The material still covered her though, and Harvey released the pressure of his body against hers to let the garment fall down her shoulders, leaving her bare to him. Her nakedness engrossed him, making his breath hitch in his throat.

For Donna, though, Harvey was too dressed. Fumbling with his tie and dress shirt, she almost didn't realize his hands were traveling from her backside to her waist and breasts; her weight was only supported by the pressure of his waist.

I've seen it all

There's no more need for fighting

And I've had pleasures

Not known by mortal man

I've seen every place

There's no more need for searching

(Immortal Pleasures - Ace Frehley)

His tie and shirt were easy enough to take it off, but her movements halted when the hot skin of her breasts were touched by his hungry mouth. She moaned and arched her back, hugging his neck and keeping him in place. Between scratches and niblings, he groaned her name, making her heart skip a bit and eyes water. His tongue toyed with a nipple and after leaving it with a decadent plop, he moved his hand down under the back of her right knee, and hoisted her away from the wall, carrying her to the kitchen counter; the closest surface he could find.

He stepped out of her embrace, not leaving her gaze, and started unfastening his belt. As if on cue, she went for the robe that still haphazardly slung over her shoulders and lazily dragged it out of her body, exposing freckled, flushed milky skin.

Harvey had never seen someone as beautiful as the woman in front of him. Her tousled flaming locks never looked better. Her lipstick never seemed to bring out her pout as it did right now. Her bra had never done justice to the shape of her bust—

"Harvey, less staring and more undressing."

Her words took him out of his trance. He must have stopped at some point between her opening legs invitingly, and the bite of her bottom lip, but he continued and took off his pants, shoes and socks in a fast motion. Only in his boxers, he reached for her again, as if seeking warmth after too long in a cold hard winter.

He grabbed her by the waist, bringing her closer to the edge of the counter. "You have no idea how long I've been dying to be able to touch you like this," he whispered in her ear.

"Twelve and a half years?" She asked, almost out of breath as soon as his left hand traveled to tease the other nipple.

"It feels like thirteen years to me," he countered, letting her hands explore his defined torso. His mouth followed his hand as it began wandering down and souther.

Her nails scratched his shoulder blades and lower back, making him groan and bite down a little on her breast, the sensation then soothed by his tongue. Her moans joined their erratic breathing, filling her apartment with the sound of lust, passion and longing.

She sucked on the pulse point of his neck, when the back of his finger traced the slit of her folds and ignited her nerves. She let her hand explore the clad bulge in his boxers. The feeling of his hot skin through the thin fabric made her even more wanting, so she reached up her hand and slid it inside his underwear.

The touch of her hand made him twitch and close his eyes. The feeling so overwhelming he thought he never felt so much pleasure from a single grip.

Her thumb caressed the slit of his tip, making him groan her name, teasing her nipple with his breath. He reached for her wrist then, halting her movements.

"I want you to come with me."

His husky voice would have made Donna fall on her knees if she wasn't seated on the marble counter. But she stopped her ministrations nonetheless, only to take off his shirt and tie, as she murmured in his ear to take her to bed, forgetting her robe and all barriers in the kitchen. Lifting her off the bench by the waist, he wrapped his arms around her frame, which allowed both to savor each other's proximity and scent. Strawberries and vanilla mixed with smoke, whiskey and cologne. Her fingers went to his neck while her legs enveloped his waist, allowing his arousal to tease her core.

Reaching her bed, he placed her on the mattress and motioned for her to slide up to the headboard. The view of Donna, laying down with a captivating smile and completely freckled body, made his breath hitch.

Staring fully at her, he took off his boxers, making his hardened length bob from its confines and desire pool between her legs. The view of Harvey, standing in front of her showing his complete manhood, bare chested with softly defined muscles, made a shiver run down Donna's spine. He crawled over her then, enjoying the extent of her long milky legs.

Kissing his way up the inner part or her thighs, until the tip of his nose lightly touched her slit.

Her right hand clasped the white sheets of her bedding while the other touched the short strands of his hair in anticipation. Not necessarily encouraging him, but giving permission and longing for him at the same time.

He looked up to see her flushed face and furrowed brows almost begging for the feel of him. For thirteen years they'd been in sync, and there would be time for more teasing and exploring. What they both really craved was being united as one.

He ran his finger between her folds again, tracing the path of what soon would be his, making her back arch and her mouth to gasp. Her need was driving him so crazy that he thought he would burst at the mere sight of her constellationed skin.

She reached for his head then, pulling him up and making his mouth meet hers. They kissed passionately until she couldn't bear not having him completely. Holding his base and positioning him at her entrance, she could see his eyes searching for permission. With a blink and twirl of her hips, he swallowed hard and slowly sank into her.

Giving her time to adjust to his intrusion, he looked into her darkened orbs and almost drowned into her gaze.

She saw everything she ever wanted in his face; lust and tenderness, love and surrender.

Her walls clenched around him, letting him know it was okay to start moving, and so he did.

Gently caressing his back and shoulders, she didn't dare take her eyes off of him. Their lips met then, lazily savoring each other's taste.

The feel of her lips on his was too overwhelming for them to keep the slow pace.

With each thrust, their desire kept building up to the point where their unsteady rhythm was in perfect sync. Moans and groans filled the silent apartment, while their sweaty writhing bodies came close to their climax.

Feeling her walls flutter around him, Harvey took one of her knees and positioned it over his shoulder, making her gasp his name in delight and deepen her nails into his buttocks. The new angle added more friction and allowed them a complete union. The view of her parted lips mesmerized him to the point he wouldn't be able to hold back if she wasn't already screaming his name and clenching him with full force. Her hands clung on his muscled forearms, while he spilled all his love and affection into her.

They let their mutual ecstasies wash over them, both needing some time so their minds could stop spiraling. Still inside her, he lifted some of his weight to take her in.

Her hazel eyes glistened with unshed tears in the dark room and her heart soared with having to tell him she had to go to England.

A/N: Cassie, you're an angel. ILY! Thank you SM for fixing my clumsy words. Flor, you're my person. Thank you for all the encouragement and for cheering me on.