A/N: So this is most likely going to be a multi chapter. This chapter is more of a prequel if you will and it's loosely based on a scene from the book 'The Sleeping Arrangement' by Neva Rae Bell. Thank you to everyone who has encouraged me to write this story. I hope you like it x
Trigger warning: confined spaces (elevator) and panic attacks
hold me near (and i will steal solid ground)
.
It's past 10 pm when they step into the elevator together.
Harvey had been preparing for trial when she'd snuck her head into his office earlier this evening. She'd been on her way out but upon seeing him sit in his armchair, shoulders tense, jaw flexed, and hunched over a pile of case files, she'd abandoned her plans of a relaxed evening at home. She didn't mind and she knew he was grateful for her presence. His eyes and his smiles expressed it all, even if he never said a word.
Donna pushes the button to the first floor and they begin their descent.
"You'll do great tomorrow," she says, turning her head slightly to the left. "They won't know what hit 'em."
She catches Harvey's confident smirk in her peripheral version, glad he's in good spirits again.
"Damn straight. I'm gonna wipe their asses in court tomorrow. Mike's gonna freak out when he realises that his research helped us find a way out." He fake groans but it's obvious how much he appreciates the kid and how proud he is of him.
"You should tell him. That poor boy is still terrified of you," she chuckles.
"Exactly and I'm not about to change that. I can't have him thinking he can slack off now that he's …" But Harvey is abruptly cut off when the elevator jerks to a stop.
Donna is thrown off balance and grabs the railing to stay upright. The overhead lights flicker a few times before they turn off completely, leaving them in the dark.
"What the hell?" Harvey curses, his hand searching for something to hold onto.
Donna is trying to locate her cell phone in her purse when Harvey's hand wraps around her shoulder. "I'm right here," she assures him, calm as ever. "Just trying to find my phone."
Once she finds her cell phone, she shines the light from it around the confined space of the elevator. After a moment, she sees the red button with a fireman hat on it on the control panel. As soon as she presses it, an alarm goes off.
"Fucking hell, that's annoying," Harvey grumbles and she finally turns to find his jaw clenched and his breathing laboured.
"Someone will hear it and know we're stuck."
"Donna, we're the last ones here. Even the cleaning lady left half an hour ago."
"There's always someone downstairs at the reception," Donna reminds him.
"At 10 pm?" he asks sceptically.
"Yes, Harvey. Even at 10 pm." She shakes her head. This man truly is blind when it comes to anything that doesn't have to do with him becoming New York City's best closer.
They wait for a few moments but the alarm is loud and unbearable and Harvey starts banging on the elevator doors.
"Hey!"
"Harvey, just be a bit patient."
"Patient? We're stuck in a metal box dangling on fucking ropes!" Harvey bangs at the door again, harder this time.
Donna sighs, Harvey's restlessness making her nervous. She's never been afraid of small spaces and it's not like the elevator is going to unhinge itself and make them fall to their deaths.
"I'm gonna call 911," Harvey announces suddenly. Patience has never been his strong suit and Donna shrugs, leaning against the railing.
The phone call goes on for a while. The dispatcher informs Harvey that a storm knocked out the power to a significant portion of Manhattan. They're not in any danger but it's going to take a while for a rescue team of firefighters to get to them since they're receiving a lot of calls from all over the city about the power outage and subsequent accidents.
"How long will we have to wait?" Harvey asks eventually. Donna can't hear the reply but judging by Harvey's exclamation, it could take a while.
"At least we're not alone," Donna tries to make light of the situation once he's hung up. But Harvey's eyes are wild when they lock with hers. His chest is heaving and his whole body is radiating frustration. "Hey," she tries again, nudging his arm. "You okay?"
Harvey wipes his palm over his face and shakes his head. Instead of replying, he starts banging on the doors again, letting his frustration bounce off the walls. Up until this point, Donna could convince herself that she was calm and just waiting for someone to come to their rescue but seeing Harvey look like a caged animal makes panic rise within herself.
"Harvey, stop," she shouts. He doesn't even seem to hear her, too busy trying to pry open the door he was just banging on with his bare hands.
She touches Harvey's shoulder, lightly at first, but when he doesn't stop trying to get the tightly closed doors to move, she grips him harder.
"Harvey, hey, stop," she pleads again.
"I have to get out of here!"
"Help is on the way. Everything is okay. Look at me," she tugs on his arm, turning him around to look at her. There's a wet shine all over his skin, sweat collecting on his forehead and she inhales sharply.
This isn't just him freaking out because he is impatient and frustrated. He's actually terrified and on the cusp of having a panic attack. He tries to shake off her hand then, banging on the dented doors again. For a moment, Donna doesn't know what to do or how to help him but then she just follows her instincts. She shouts loudly. Louder than the banging and louder than the alarm that is still going off in the background.
"Harvey! STOP IT. Stop banging on the fucking door! You're driving me fucking crazy."
Her unexpected outburst has its desired effect. Harvey drops his hands to his sides, going completely still. His wild eyes find hers and he looks at her like he completely forgot he wasn't trapped in here alone. His breathing is still erratic, his chest heaving from the physical activity but even more so from the panic he's experiencing.
The alarm in the background suddenly stops and the silence rings in her ears. "Are you claustrophobic?" she asks, her voice quiet and calm this time.
Harvey shrugs, and she has a feeling he genuinely doesn't know; or he's too busy trying to breathe because the next thing she knows is him tugging on his collar and leaning forward, dangerously close to falling over and she steadies him with her hands.
"Hey, hey. Look at me," Harvey's wide eyes find hers again. "Breathe in with me. Come on, here," she takes his hand and lays it on her chest. "Breathe in. Can you feel it? In and now out." He follows her instructions wordlessly. His hand is pressed against her chest and she feels him lean into her, his knees buckling. "Let's sit down, come on, carefully." She holds him steady as he sinks down onto the floor.
It's a terrifying picture. His breathing is still too fast, too erratic and irregular. She kneels down in front of him and puts her phone next to them. Then she grabs his tie and loosens it before she does the same to the first few buttons of his shirt. The skin on his neck is clammy and hot and she blows on it gently, trying to bring him down from his attack. Harvey reaches for her chest again and lays his hand there, seeking a connection between them. "Breathe in slowly, count to five, good," she praises him when he tries to follow her instruction, gulping in air. "Hold it. One, two, three… good," she encourages him. Her hand strokes his cheek, smiling at him as his breathing slows down.
They stay like this — her kneeling in between his open legs, him leaning against the wall, focusing all of their attention on his breathing — until the worst is over.
He closes his eyes after a while, his hand on her chest enough to help him breathe regularly. When he opens his eyes, they're small and he looks incredibly exhausted.
"Donna–," he starts weakly.
"Shh. I know." She strokes his cheek one last time and then retracts her hand. "Close your eyes again. It's late, you need to get some sleep."
Harvey seems to consider it and Donna finally draws back completely, feeling the loss of his hand on her chest. Now that Harvey is okay, she feels how numb her thighs have become from a lack of blood supply and she finally discards her uncomfortable Jimmy Choos. One look at her phone tells her it's past 10:30 pm and she feels her own exhaustion sink in. She sits down next to Harvey, spreading her coat out on the cold floor and tells him to scoot over to her.
"Thanks," he says quietly. "For doing your Donna thing."
In any other situation, she would have teased him for finally learning how to say 'thanks' but not after what just happened and how terrifying it was for her to witness it. Her own pulse is still strumming an erratic rhythm in her veins and she's just so relieved that she managed to calm him down.
"You know I'd never let anything happen to you," she says earnestly. Then with a hint of humour in her voice, she adds, "Not even when we're stuck in a dangling metal box."
Harvey hums. His pinky strokes over hers on the ground between them gently in response and they sit in complete silence for a few minutes.
"When I was little, my mum and I got stuck in an elevator once," he whispers into the dark. "We were stuck in there with six other people so it was crowded. People were panicking but I was too young to understand what was happening. I had completely forgotten about it until now."
He sometimes gets like this with her. Usually late at night in his office after they've had a few glasses of scotch and conversation was flowing freely. It's how she learnt about Lily and Bobby, about Marcus and his gambling problem, and Gordon and his tours with his band. Harvey doesn't talk about his childhood often but when he does, it means something.
"I'm sorry," she whispers back, her pinky wrapping around his. He pulls her closer to him and she feels the rise and fall of his chest as his breathing gets slower. Eventually he leans his head against hers and when she whispers his name, he is fast asleep.
.
Donna wakes up with a start when bright lights shine on her face and she puts a hand up to shield her eyes instinctively.
"Sir? Miss? Are you alright?", someone shouts from the ceiling.
It takes Donna a few seconds to get her bearings before she remembers what happened and where she is. She must have fallen asleep because she is now tightly curled around Harvey. Her head is laying on his chest and he has his right arm wrapped around her body, holding her close to him as he sleeps.
"Miss? Are you okay?"
"Yes!" Donna yells. "We're both alright."
"Harvey." Donna turns her head in his direction, breathing in the familiar scent that lulled her to sleep. "Wake up. Help is here."
"What?" he mumbles and finally stirs, tightening his arm around her.
"We're with New York's fire department. We'll get you out of there in no time," The voice from somewhere in the ceiling shouts. Apparently they aren't in between floors. The light is still shining down on them and Harvey cringes away from it.
"What the…"
"We're bringing in a ladder. Are you able to climb up here?"
"Yes!" Donna shouts again. Harvey finally withdraws his right arm from around her and she gets a proper look at him when she sits up. "Are you okay?"
"Hmm, yeah, I think so." He scrambles to get off the ground and smooth down his hair. The distance between them compared to before is palpable and she squashes down an emotion rising in her chest. "Did I really fall asleep?"
She nods, stepping back into her Jimmy Choos. "We both did."
"For how long?"
Donna picks up her phone from the ground and turns off the flashlight. She stares at the figures with tired eyes and Harvey steals a look.
"Holy shit. It's almost 1 am."
"We were in here for three hours." Donna supplies needlessly. They both slept for more than two hours but it felt like much less time. And to her surprise, the sleep was actually good and she feels rested.
The firefighters drop down a wooden ladder and Harvey makes Donna go up first.
"I won't let anything happen to you," he whispers into her hair with a smirk before she starts climbing up the steps carefully.
They both refuse to get checked out and thank the team of firefighters for their rescue. Harvey flags them both a cab and they drop Donna off first.
"Are you sure you're okay?" she asks one last time before she exits the car.
"I'm sure." His tight-lipped smile tells her he doesn't want to talk about what happened in the elevator again and she nods. This, just like all his other secrets, will be safe with her.
"Good night, Harvey. Get some proper sleep."
"Good night, Donna."
.
To both their surprise, neither sleeps well that night or any other night that follows this incident. Stubbornly, they both try to power through and find a way to sleep on their own again, but it proves to be impossible.
Until they talk to each other and find out that they're both dealing with the same problem.
Maybe there is a solution after all?
A/N: Let me know if you want to read more! The rest of this story will definitely be more silly and lighthearted and filled with fun bed sharing tropes. xx