Chapter 6 A Misunderstanding

It had been a tumultuous week for Mike and Harvey. Since Dent's rather explosive meeting with the two of them, Mike had been telling Harvey a few snippets of what his life was like in care. Each time he did, Harvey filed it away in the mental filing cabinet. He wanted to approach Mike about getting some kind of retribution for what happened. Harvey would tear apart the entire New York Foster System if it meant he found the people that were responsible. If Mike wanted it, he would take them all to court and metaphorically beat the crap out of them. He also wanted to beat the crap out of them literally.

Now though, they would work together as they always did. Mike wasn't ready for that avenue just yet. He might need a little prompting though. Harvey had a feeling he would need to approach the subject first and he would. Just not just yet.

They were currently in Harvey's office trying to evaluate the cases for that week. They needed to work out which ones were vital and which ones could wait a while.

"Pass me that file again. I think the situation with Davy and Smith is getting worse." Harvey requested.

Mike reached over the indicated file. He went to pass it to Harvey but before the older lawyer could take a proper hold on the file, Mike let go. Gravity took over and the file dropped to the floor, scattering papers everywhere.

Harvey groaned loudly. It wasn't the end of the world, sure, but it was certainly annoying.

"Mike!" He complained. He gave Mike an annoyed glare.

"I'm sorry sir!" Mike whimpered as the file dropped from his hand and landed on the floor with a flutter.

"Don't worry about it." Harvey growled, a little gruffer than he originally wanted. He bent down and reached for the dropped file. Mike flinch away from him so violently that he fell and smashed his right cheek against the coffee table.

Harvey ran towards his fallen associate "Mike are you all right?"

Mike groaned, briefly stunned by the blow to his head. That was definitely going to bruise. In fact, he could already feel one forming. He sat up slowly.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"Go and put something on that cheek." Harvey ordered.

Mike refused to make eye contact with Harvey. This was going to be fun to explain. He left to do what Harvey had suggested. Maybe if he put a cold compress on it the bruise would be less noticeable and there would be fewer questions about what had happened.

Harvey watched as Mike left and tried to think about what happened. Whenever he thought he was making progress something happened that reset all of that. Talk about taking two steps forward and one step back. Unfortunately, Mike had been flinching a lot lately, but he had never been injured in the process.

"Are you all right Mike?" Donna asked. She had seen what happened and wanted to check him over. At first, she had been a little cold towards Mike because she hadn't known him that well. As the years passed and Mike showed himself to be a loyal man with a good heart she grew to care for him. Mike wasn't like the rest of the uppity lawyers. He didn't think that he was better than her and he respected her skills. He knew that there were some things that Donna knew better than the rest of them. It made him a valuable ally and a brilliant friend.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Mike responded. He moved away from Donna's hand as she reached towards his cheek.

"Let's get you something to put on that cheek."

Donna guided Mike into the break room ignoring Mike's protests. He kept trying to insist that he could do it himself and that he could manage perfectly. That wasn't important. In Donna's eyes, it didn't matter that he was capable. He shouldn't be alone. However, just as they entered the break room and she opened the fridge, she had been called away by Jessica.

Mike tried not to let the fact Donna had to leave bother him. He had been taking care of himself for a long time now. He didn't need Donna to hold his hand and comfort him. He was not a baby. So, when he took an ice pack wrapped in a towel and placed it on his face he tried not to feel alone. He was perfectly fine. He didn't need anyone, and his cheek would be fine by the morning.

Louis watched as he saw Mike enter the break room with Donna. He didn't like that Mike had decided to take a break this early in the day, but he wasn't going to approach the associate with Donna there. He liked living. However, when Donna left a few seconds later he decided to make his move. As he stood in the doorway he opened his mouth but when he saw Mike he stopped, the rebuke dying on his lips.

"What happened to you?" Louis asked.

"Nothing of any importance."

Louis stared at him for a few minutes. Mike began to feel a little uncomfortable under his glare. He felt as though he were in deposition and Louis was the opposing counsel.

"Are you OK?"

"I will live." Mike snorted. Louis was not one of the people that he expected to check upon him.

"Make sure you get me those files."

Satisfied that Mike wasn't about to collapse in front of him, Louis left the associate to sort himself out. That didn't shake his concern though. Obviously, something had happened, or he wouldn't have an ice pack on his face. Clearly, Donna was concerned too, or she wouldn't take time out of her very busy schedule to deal with Mike's boo-boos.

Once he was in the safety of his own office he picked up his Dictaphone and spoke into it.

"Note to self – check on Mike. Something has happened to him. And Norma where are all my pens? How hard is it to keep them stocked up?"

Louis was certain that something had occurred between the Prom King and his Boy Wonder. He wondered if it was connected to the Darby incident. He thought that they'd worked past it. After all, Mike went back to working with Harvey. He was a little angry with Mike for doing that at first but now that didn't matter. He wanted to help.

The next day Mike looked in the mirror to see what he had to work with. The bruise was definitely noticeable. He briefly considered popping into a store and getting some make-up to cover it up. The only thing was, that make-up often caused a skin reaction and resulted in a bad rash. So, he decided that he would just have to bite the bullet and answer any questions.

"Wowzer." Harvey commented as he saw the bruise on his face. Mike thought that the bruise wasn't that bad, but Harvey reaction made him re-evaluate the situation. He didn't have a concussion according to his symptoms,

"Is it that bad?" Mike asked.

"You look like you've spent a session in The Fight Club."

"Shh. Rule one Don't talk about The Fight Club".

"Do you have a headache? Balance problems? Nausea?"

Mike snorted. Harvey was flapping around him like a mama bird. It really wasn't necessary. Even if the bruise was bad, he would be OK. He'd suffered worse after all and had lived to tell the tale.

"No, no and no. Honestly, Harvey, I'm going to be fine." Mike responded.

"Let me know if anything changes." Harvey instructed.

Mike rolled his eyes and scoffed. Harvey really needed to chill out. If he thought that this was bad then he'd hate to see some of the injuries he got as a kid.

"OK. Harvey. I will update you if I feel worse. Now are you finished mothering me or can we get to work?" Mike requested.

Thankfully, Harvey agreed to move on to their priority case. A very rich and very influential client was being accused of insider trading. Said client was both guilty and unwilling to settle which made him a pain in the ass. He also kept talking to Jessica about a sizeable donation if it all planned out.

"Once Dodd's been briefed we can allow him to talk to the board but not before." Harvey stated. That was when he noticed Mike look at the floor with guilt flushing across his face.

"Mike? Is there something you need to tell me?" Harvey asked not liking where it was going. He had that feeling he always had when Mike had done something stupid or knew someone that did. He was very much like a puppy in that respect. Harvey tried not to laugh as he compared his associate to the YouTube videos of guilty.

"He may or may not have already spoken to them." Mike admitted.

"What?!" Harvey outraged. He stood up quickly and watched as Mike flinched. He was too angry to care.

"I bumped into him on his way to his office. He said he was going to speak to his board and if I knew what was good for me I wouldn't say anything to you." Mike explained.

"And when was this?" Harvey questioned.

"Friday."

"Last week?! What the hell Mike? You know that this could completely ruin the case and pour everything we did down the drain!" Harvey yelled.

Mike just sat in silence as Harvey yelled at him. He needed to stay still and shut up. It was the safest thing for him to do right now.

"Are you listening to me? If Jessica hears about this…" Harvey moved towards his associate. He reached his hand down to him meaning to gently lift his head to face him. He regretted that when Mike flinched a third time. His arm rocketed across his face to deflect a blow that he knew logically would not land. When it came to times like these though, the logic went out the window.

"I'm sorry sir! Don't hit me!" Mike begged.

Just like that the seething anger over the omission was gone. Harvey was still pissed off just not at Mike. He was pissed off at his client for ignoring his instructions and daring to threaten Mike. He was pissed off at himself for losing his temper. Now that he thought about it, it wasn't too big of a deal. Yes, it could have caused them to lose the case, but it didn't. Harvey hadn't heard about the impromptu meeting between their client and his board. No news was also good news. It meant that the case hadn't been screwed and they still had a chance here.

"We'll figure it out. We still need to discuss you hiding thing from me again and what to do when someone's threatening you, but we can do that later. I am not going to hit you, Mike. I will NEVER hit you." Harvey comforted. He still needed to deal with what happened, but he knew how to punish him without resorting to violence. Anyway, it wasn't punishment that Mike needed right now, it was trust.

Unbeknownst to either of them, Louis had watched the altercation. He had waited until Donna had gone to the toilet before approaching Mike. He knew the associate was in Harvey's office and planned to speak to him about the concerns that he had. He expected Mike to deny all his concerns which is why he wanted to speak with him when Harvey was present. If the older lawyer was there when Louis shared his concerns then he would have a better chance of getting the associate to listen.

What Louis hadn't accounted for was Mike doing something to earn Harvey's wrath. It wasn't exactly an unusual occurrence. He knew he should probably leave the pair two it and let them solve their feud in private, but it was like a car crash: he couldn't look away. In the end, he was glad he did as he saw Harvey step towards Mike. Seconds later he flinched and begged Harvey not to hit him.

Suddenly everything made sense. Louis listed his evaluations in his head and made a list.

The bruising to Mike's face and his sudden jumpiness

The way Mike called Harvey 'sir'

The scared look on his face when Harvey exploded at him

The fact he flinched and begged Harvey not to hit him

The last clue was the most telling one. It all added up to one very bad conclusion. Harvey was abusing Mike. Louis couldn't believe it. He knew that Harvey could be harsh and cold. He also knew that he was often harder on Mike than he was on any of the other associates. Even then he never thought Harvey would lay a hand on him.

Louis suddenly remembered something. One-time Mike had stumbled into the firm. Louis had been leaving at the time and had been carrying a box. He remembered how Mike was holding his side. He remembered his split lip and a black eye. Louis had been the one to clean Mike up and when he asked what happened, Mike defected and focused on the cupboard boxes. Louis had let him.

Harvey must have been the one to have hit him then. He hadn't been angry the following morning like Louis had expected him to. He'd not thought much about it back then. But now, it all made Louis worry. Several alarm bells were ringing in his head. Part of him was angry at himself for not seeing it sooner. When Harvey was pissed at Mike for the whole Darby affair, he had ignored Mike. Then when it looked like Louis was going to take Mike from him, he'd apologised, and Mike had forgiven him far too easily. He saw that in a different light now. What he had originally pinned down as loyalty was really fear.

Louis was certain that Harvey had hit Mike yesterday. He was certain that he was abusing his associate. Well, Louis wasn't going to let that happen. He was going to recuse Mike, have Harvey fired and then watch in court as his ass was dragged off to jail. He'd represent Mike of course.

'Don't worry Mike.' Louis thought 'I'll save you.'

And save him he will. He might have considered Harvey a friend and respected him at one time but no longer. He couldn't be an abusive asshole like Harvey and come hell or high water he was going to help Mike get away from him. Harvey Specter was going to be Litt up. He would regret ever laying a hand on Mike Ross.