Chapter Three: The conversation
Mike tried hard not to look nervous as Harvey directed him to a chair. He knew that he couldn't avoid this conversation any longer. Harvey wasn't the best closer in New York for nothing- he was tenacious. They all were.
"So, who would like the make the first move?" Harvey asked. "Any takers?"
Harvey's attempt at humour was poor. Poor enough to be amusing and lighten the tense mood. In that respect, it had its desired effect. Mike chuckled slightly and glanced Harvey in the eye. There was a kindness behind them, one that Harvey often tried to hide. He worked so hard to build up that uncaring persona, but the truth was that it just wasn't true. Harvey did care and he especially cared about Mike. Mike, one of the best damn lawyers Harvey knew (even if he didn't have a degree) was like a little brother to him. Since Mike came crashing (literally) into his life nearly three years ago, he felt happier than he'd ever been before.
"Mike." Harvey promoted; his voice was softer than his associate had ever heard it.
"My parents died when I was 11-"
"In a car crash. Yes, I know that." Harvey interrupted.
Mike shot Harvey a glare, but he didn't say anything. He may be tenacious, but he was also impatient.
"I was in that car crash you know. It's one of the many things I have nightmares about but-"
"You have nightmares?" Harvey interrupted.
This time Mike did say something. He glared at Harvey his usual confidence seeping through for the first time in days.
"Do you want me to explain what's going on? Stop interrupting me and let me begin at the beginning." He protested. Harvey gave him a wave of apology and indicated Mike to continue.
"Like I said when I was 11 my parents died. Grammy tried her hardest, but she was already ill then and child protective services were concerned that she couldn't take care of me. She didn't win custody of me."
Oh.
Harvey knew Mike had lost his parents at a young age. He even knew about the circumstances surrounding their death and the shitbag of a lawyer that had been assigned the case. He hadn't considered what had happened to Mike after. He's just considered he'd been taken in by his grandma. That obviously hadn't happened though. So, what had happened after? What had happened to Mike? Harvey feared the answer.
"So, what did happen?" Harvey asked after Mike didn't expand on anything.
"What usually happens in a case of this kind? I was set into the Foster Care system."
The system had a bad reputation for a reason. There were plenty of good-hearted people that took foster kids in to care for them and treated them like a part of the family. However, that wasn't the case for many children. They were neglected and abused while their so-called 'parents' cashed in on the government checks.
"You remember our last case?" Mike asked him.
"The pro-bono case? Of course, I do. Happy Hills Children's Home had asbestos in the roof that was too dangerous to be left on its own. The owner knew this but didn't want to pay the costs of having it removed so he left it. As a result, many of the children got sick and now how lifelong health conditions. He was sued."
Mike nodded.
"Happy Hills was also shut down and the current foster kids were rehomed. It was suspected that a number of the staff members were physically abusive too. It's likely the asbestos triggered aggression. It was never proved."
Suddenly things were starting to make sense. Harvey remembered that Mike had kept trying to get turn his attention to the treatment of the children in the Home. Harvey had reminded Mike to keep his mind on the job, but he hadn't let Harvey drop it until the Home was shut down. After the case, Mike had personally run background checks on each placement. At the time Harvey thought it was just Mike being Mike at the time but now he considered that there was something more to it than that.
"Since then I've been having nightmares. You see no one wanted a traumatised 11-year-old never to mind one like me. Adults don't like it when kids are smarter than they are. They like it even less when that kid is wimpy. The ones that didn't hit me passed me off to ones that did. By the time I aged out of foster care I had been in twenty-six different foster homes each worse than the last."
Harvey had feared this kind of answer. Twenty-six foster homes? Why on earth would anyone pass on looking after a kid like Mike? He was smart and so kind and so brilliant. How anyone could hurt him was beyond him.
"Is that why started calling me sir?" Harvey asked.
"I learnt pretty quickly that being compliant was the best thing. I expected to be hit for doing the wrong thing and I called them sir and ma'am in the hopes that it would calm them. It was what they wanted. Sometimes it helped. Other times it didn't. Other times my mouth would land me in trouble, and I deserved it."
Mike let out a breath. There. It was out. It wasn't everything but it was the basics. He'd never told anyone any of this. He hadn't even told his Grammy about it. She had guessed some things and had tried to help him, but nothing could ever be proved. After a while, they stopped listening to his Grammy and put it down to the nattering of a mad old woman who couldn't get what she wanted.
"That night you turned up. I was having a nightmare. Mr Goodwin, placement 7. He refused to call me Mike. He said Michael was my name and that was that. It's why I hate anyone other than my parents or Grammy calling me that. Now they've gone, it reminds me of him. He found me reading and I checked him. He didn't like that, so he took off his belt and…" Mike trailed off. He didn't finish what he was saying – he didn't need to.
Harvey took the silence to mean that Mike was finished talking. That was fair enough. He'd told Harvey enough for him to reach his own conclusion. Mike's childhood had been, to sum it up, shit. That look on his associate's face, the brokenness of the man he considered to be his little brother tore himself up. It made him want to track down every person who had ever hurt his little brother and beat the shit out of them.
"Mike. You know that you didn't deserve any of that right?" Harvey asked him. The nod that Mike gave was not convincing.
"Yes sir." Mike responded his voice quivering slightly. Harvey frowned. He thought that talking through the situation would help but Mike was still calling him 'sir'. He was still scared. The last thing Harvey wanted was for Mike to fear him.
"Mike. It's me, Harvey. You know? Batman? You don't have to call me sir. I'm not them Mike. I'm wouldn't hurt you."
"I know that Harvey." Mike responded and if what had just happened didn't happen at all.
Harvey sensed that it was time to move the conversation onto something else. The current case was properly a safe bet. Anyway, today was a crucial part of the case and it was important to discuss the plan for the day. Jessica it seemed was thinking about this also as she came into Harvey's office. She was one of the few people that could circumvent Donna and enter without her approval.
"Harvey where are we with the MacDavid case?"
"Jessica. How are you this morning?" Harvey greeted.
"I'd feel better if we knew we were with MacDavid."
"We're doing good. The deposition went well, and we have a meeting with him later this morning."
"And what are you going to do in that meeting?" Jessica asked him.
"I'm going to make him an offer he cannot refuse." Harvey quoted.
Jessica, who was used to Harvey palming her off with a reassuring yet not entirely true response. Knowing that the associate had more to lose than Harvey and thus would be more likely to give a truthful response.
"And you Mr Ross? What is your opinion?"
"I love the smell of doubt in the morning." Mike retorted stepping in front of Harvey as if to protect him. Though from what the associate was not entirely sure.
"I beg your pardon?" Jessica demanded. Both lawyers noticed how Mike stiffened.
Determined to make Jessica back off of Harvey Mike took a breath. He was going to make Jessica leave Harvey alone and trust him. Mike owed Harvey that at least for everything he had done for him. If getting Jessica of Harvey's back helped him that that was what he was going to do no matter when the managing partner would do to him.
"Harvey knows what he is doing. Have a little faith in his abilities and leave us to do our jobs. He's not let you down before. Trust that he will see this through. I know you trust him to do so. Act like it."
The silence that followed was long enough for Mike to start doubting as to his response was the right one. He was determined not to back down though and when Jessica smiled he knew it had paid off.
"It seems the puppy has bite." She smirked before she left. The message was clear. She was still going to keep track of their progress, but she trusted Harvey to get the result she wanted.
Mike let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding. Harvey clapped a hand on Mike's shoulder, not sure how to respond when the younger man flinched under his touch. So, Harvey went for this usual tactic (when Donna wasn't involved) of ignoring the situation.
"It's nice to see you have my back."
"I figured after everything I owed you that at least. Especially after everything you've done for me versus what I did to you."
"I thought we agreed to never discuss that incident again." Harvey reminded.
"Yeah but you never really made me pay for that betrayal. You never punished me for it." Mike responded.
"Never really- I goddamn near fired you!"
"But you didn't. You didn't even…"
Harvey froze when he realised what Mike was trying to say.
"You thought I would hit you?"
Mike nodded "I thought it was inevitable. I would have deserved it."
"No. You wouldn't have. I guess this is my fault for not making things clear. I will NEVER hit you, Mike. That is a Harvey Specter Promise and A Harvey Specter Promise is unbreakable. Like a Dimond."