Hey! Just received my first reviews and I want to thank you for that! I love to read every reaction. I'm not a native speaker so I'm very sorry if there are any spelling or grammatical mistakes. As you may have seen the first pages are very close to the original story line but we'll soon change that ;) I also included some of the original dialogues and just expanded them a bit in my favour. Also I decided to keep the chapters short. There may follow some bigger ones but I can't promise.

Have fun with this one!

She had predicted it from the start. She knew it would be hard for all of them. Since they took Mike away in handcuffs, the mood in the firm had become worse and worse. Jessica, Louis and Harvey are the heart of the firm: if they fall apart so does the whole firm. And lately the rift that was running through the team was widening.

Usually it was on her to hold anything together. She always was Harvey's voice of reason and held Louis in check. She also was one of the few people who dared to contradict Jessica. That's the reason she's the world best secretary. That's what she is – or rather how she used to be.

More than a week had passed since she fell apart in the bathroom. She didn't know herself that way at all. That was so unlike Donna. She has always been completely controlled. She was usually the one who calmed the others down. Why is she suddenly the person who couldn't handle herself?

It had just been an argue with Harvey. Not a big deal. They had fought many times before. That's what it's like when you've worked together for so long. The argument with Rachel was also not unusual, given what the young lawyer was going through at the moment. Still, it affects her. The nausea that had overtaken her that evening she has not been able to shake off all week. Stomach cramps have woken her up every morning and she isn't able to keep her food inside. She can't even concentrate on her work but she hopes none of her colleagues would notice. There's no way the mighty Donna Paulsen would seem weak. Especially a certain name partner should not believe this!

But Harvey is so distracted by the trial that he doesn't notice anything else anyway. But you can't say the same about Rachel. She has realised that her friend isn't well but she doesn't dare to ask her on it. She's sorry about how she has spoke to her best friend but they haven't really talked since their argument and Rachel isn't quite sure that she's ready to forgive her.

Mike had accused him of doing this mock trial because he couldn't bear to lose. And that's kind of right. He can't bear to lose when it's about someone he cares about. If he would lose against Mike, he would step down as he had promised. But he won't just give up. If he makes it easy for him, no one will benefit.

Although he has no intention to hurt him or shame him in front of the firm, he's well aware that that's exactly what's going to happen. He's not trying to undermine Mike, on the contrary! Everything he does, he does to protect him.

He knows Gibbs will play dirty, so he has to do the same. He knows Gibbs will attack him at his most wounded spot, so he will do the same. And what is more suitable for that than the woman he loves? He knows, Mike won't forgive him to rip her up like that in front of all their colleagues but he won't step back. Mike better loses his composure here, in a familiar environment, than there in the middle of the courtroom. One wrong word in there and he's gonna lose everything. In order to avoid that, Harvey is ready to accept all the accusations.

He knows exactly how this feels like. He can't help but remember the last mock trial that centred him. Last time it wasn't Rachel on the stand, it was Donna whose life had been discussed in public. Louis had questioned their relationship and Harvey had lost his temper, when he saw how that hurt her. This time he will be the one to do so.

But was it really comparable? After all, Mike is engaged to Rachel but Donna and him? They're just… friends, aren't they?

Rachel runs to the bathroom as fast she could. There's no way she was going to let those contemptuous looks hang over her for even a second longer. She's sure she never felt as ashamed as in that moment. She throws the door in the look. Finally she's alone and can take a breath. She goes straight to the sink and tries to regain her composure with some cold water in her face. Suddenly she hears someone unlocking the door of the toilet cubicle behind her. Looking in the mirror, she sees Donna standing behind her. Just the pitying look in her eyes is enough to make the tears run down her face. Gently the redhead lays a hand on her best friend's shoulder as Rachel slowly goes down. Although they didn't part on good terms last time, Donna is exactly who Rachel needs by her side right now. No need for excuses. Donna's presence is proof enough: all is forgiven and forgotten.

So the two women are sitting on the toilet floor for the second time in a week.

"Oh Rachel I'm so sorry. I knew it was going to be tough but I didn't expect that." She said stroking her back.

"He humiliated me in front of the entire firm! You have no idea what it felt like."

"I know exactly what it feels like."

"What are you talking about?" Donna hesitates. Actually, she's not in the mood to talk about Harvey right now. She can no longer fool herself: Harvey is and remains a sensitive issue. But she tries to help her friend.

"Try to imagine how he treated me when I left him for Louis." When it comes to exposing a lie, Rachel is as good at it as Donna. So she sees by the look in her eyes that there is lot more she isn't willing to talk about.

"Maybe you do know", she just says.

"Yeah, I do. And I also know, that Harvey, like nobody else, has the ability to just shut off and not see you as a person anymore."

"Well this ability makes me sick."

"Yeah, me too."

"You know him very well, don't you? Do you trust him?" Donna hesitated again. Actually, she had always been sure about that, hadn't she? Rachel look at her questioningly:

„With Mike? "

„Yeah… In that case, I trust him."

"That doesn't sound very convincing. I thought you would trust him with your life? "

„I did."

"So, what changed?"

"He doesn't trust me. But trust is not a one way street."

"What are you talking about?"