Hi again. This is a fair warning that this chapter gets extremely intense and does contain graphic content. I hope I did it justice and you all don't hate me after this chapter. It was extremely hard to write but I am so proud of what I've done.
The fear he felt throughout the car ride to her apartment was unlike any other. This wasn't Coastal Motors or Liberty Rail; this was her life that was hanging by a thread not just her freedom. He couldn't even begin to fathom what a world without her would be like. There was no Harvey Specter without Donna Paulsen, that was a fact. It was too dark and too cruel of a world to live without her light in it.
"Can you drive faster dammit." His emotions continued to fluctuate between rage and sadness. It was unfair of him to take it out on his driver, he wasn't the one holding Donna against her will. He could feel his fists tightening every time Gallo's face popped into his head. He closed his eyes and tried to regulate his breathing, knowing if he acts with his emotions, he will never save her.
"We are a minute away, Mr. Specter," he paused. "I don't mean to pry, but something seems wrong. Is there something I should know about?"
Harvey hadn't even considered letting Ray know what was going on. Hell, he hadn't even informed Mike or Louis about Frank Gallo's whereabouts. All he could think about was her. Thinking about the memories they shared, he feared that would be all he had left of her… memories. He wanted to make so many more with her. She was not allowed to leave him, not now or ever again. He had already lost her once and he was not about to lose her for good.
He hadn't even realized the tear falling down his face until Ray had passed back a tissue for him. "I'm sorry. I don't know…" he trailed off, trying to pull himself together. "It's Donna. Someone I sent away to prison a long time ago has her."
Ray immediately interrupted, "Oh my god. We must call the police," he yelled.
"Ray, we can't do that. No sirens. It was a rule when he called. If he hears the police, he is going to kill her." He could feel himself getting choked up when the last few words left his mouth. Kill her. Harvey was in disbelief at his own words. He had gotten them both out of a lot in the past couple of years, but how the hell was he going to get them out of this?
Deep down he knew that if it ever came down to it, he would save her over himself any day. He always said he would take a bullet for her and now he might actually have to.
…
When they turned on her street, his hands instinctively reached for the door. Ray was still coming to a stop as Harvey opened the door to run inside. He had barely even gotten the door shut he was in such a hurry. There was no way of knowing what to expect once he got inside.
Patience was running low and he couldn't wait for the elevator so instead sprinted towards the stairs. His heart rate increased with every step he took. The stairway door flung open as he reached her floor. When he turned into her hallway, the sight brought him to a halt.
Her door was cracked open, the door frame no longer together. It was clear he had forced his way inside her home. He cautiously inched towards his favorite number 206. As he neared the door, he noticed the blood dripping down the entryway, and he let out a small whimper at the sight. He held back all the tears that were being prepared to fall down his face. It was her blood.
When he entered the apartment, the room was nothing like it used to be. Pictures that were once hanging had fallen to the ground, the glass table was now shattered on the floor, and vases were broken up into pieces all over. It had been nothing like he expected it to be, but he shouldn't be surprised. Donna fought back. There were rips in the red paint across the walls, looking like marks from fingernails. The blood had blended in with the paint so well, he barely noticed it spread across. There were droplets of blood as he made his way down the hall. The droplets turned into a small pool that had drag marks on the right side. It was something out of a horror movie.
He attempted to prepare himself for whatever he was about to see when he made his way to the end. Nothing could prepare him for what was going to happen next. As he looked to the right, what he saw made him drop to his knees.
Donna had been tied into one of her dining room chairs, hands and feet both bound. There was no sign of consciousness from her, but her chest was still moving up and down. She was alive. Her beautiful white dress was now stained red. The scratches up and down her arms were minor cuts at most, but something was causing all the bleeding.
Gallo was nowhere to be found in the apartment at first glance, so on instinct he scurried his way over to her. "Donna," he whispered as he reached around her feet first to untie her.
No response. As the bottom knot loosened, he made his way up her legs, to stand evenly with her face. He reached his hands around her face to cup it, but when his fingers neared the back of her head, he felt it. Blood was oozing out the back. She clearly took a hard blow to the head during her struggle with Frank. "Donna, wake up," he begged. "I'm going to get you out of here."
She began to move around slightly, starting to regain consciousness. "Har…" she attempted to mumble.
"I'm right here," he explained as he lifted her chin carefully. "I'm not going-" His words were cut short by the strike to the back of his head. As he drifted off, he watched the dark figure hover over him.
…
The shooting pain woke him from his slumber. He winced at the agony, the warm feeling in the back of his head becoming unbearable. Someone was calling out his name. A familiar voice accompanied it, but he couldn't quite process whose yet. His hand attempted to reach for the spot that was throbbing but was hindered by the cuffs around his hands.
A dark shadow appeared out of the corner of his eye. "How does it feel to be the prisoner this time?" The man chuckled at his own joke as he wandered over to them.
His whole body froze when he noticed the gun in the man's right hand. His fear intensified as the man got farther away from him and closer to her.
Harvey and Donna were about five feet apart, facing one another. Gallo hadn't given Harvey the luxury of being tied to a chair, so he was cuffed and thrown on the ground. She smiled as his eyes lifted to connect with hers. She was finally awake. That moment between them was all he needed to put forth the little strength he had left. She was all the motivation he needed to fight to stay alive. "Gallo, what the hell?"
"Just wanted to make sure you stayed put and watched as I take away your everything," he shouted as he pointed the gun in Donna's direction. Her eyes tightened shut at the gesture, clearly more afraid than ever. Her makeup was running down her face, mascara dripping down with every tear. The pain of seeing her like that was a thousand times worse than his head injury.
Harvey's eyes shot wide open at the action. He couldn't believe that this was actually happening to them. How the hell did he escape and why did he come here? Frank Gallo could've been halfway across the world by now, but he chose to come back and seek his revenge on him. This was all Harvey's fault. If he would've just helped Gallo when he asked him to, none of this would've happened.
"Why are you doing this?"
He changed the gun's direction to Harvey, charging forward as he started answering the question. "I see the way you two look at each other. She means more to you than anyone else in this world, right? Well guess what I had that too. I had that until you took it from me."
Harvey began to rebut, clearly infuriated by his response. "How did I take it from you? You chose to do what you did."
"Harvey," Donna interjected, the sound of her voice begging him to stop. He wasn't allowed to egg him on, not when he had a gun flying freely between the two of them. This wasn't some trial where he could get away with that without real consequences. This was their lives.
"You sent me away. I had a beautiful woman who was my other half. She was perfect in every way and was way out of my league. But she chose me, and I chose her back. We had it all we did the marriage and babies thing. We had the most stunning baby girl. We were struggling for money so I did what I did, but you couldn't let that happen. Now neither of them will talk to me because you sent me to prison," he charged towards Harvey as he finished the statement. As he arrived in front of him, Gallo jumped forward and kicked him in the stomach with all of his force. Harvey whimpered at the pain feeling as though he was just shot by a canon in his gut.
"Stop it. Leave him alone!" Donna's words were covered in sobs. She could barely catch her breath due to everything going on, her sight impeded by the endless stream of tears. Harvey couldn't bear to watch her like this. If she didn't work for him and care about him and love him, none of this would be happening right now.
"You took everything from me," he crouched down to scream in his ears. "Now I'm going to show you what it feels like to lose the one thing that matters most to you in this world." Gallo stood up and turned to face Donna.
His heart sank down into his stomach, all of the air leaving his lungs. He was right, he couldn't lose the one thing that he loved. The only person who has stood by him through all of the good and bad. He loved her but he didn't know how until that moment.
Then, it hit him. The only way he could protect the one he loved, was to hurt her. Harvey looked up at her and mouthed an "I'm sorry" before proceeding with the only thing he could think of that would get her out of this. Lie. He watched as her eyes cleared and she nodded.
"Your plan failed then Gallo," he mumbled.
Frank's eyebrows raised at his proclamation. He turned on his heels to face the injured man. "What the hell do you mean I failed? I have everything right here."
He needed to be careful. Frank was a loose cannon getting ready to blow at any moment. The next word he said could set him off.
Harvey pushed himself onto his hands and sat back against the couch. The pain was terrible, but he couldn't lie down in defeat any longer. "You don't have my everything. You clearly didn't do your research while you were locked away. What a shame to waste all that time."
Gallo's face turned red as blood. They could almost see the steam coming out of his ears after Harvey's words. "I have Donna. She is your everything, stop lying."
"I'm not lying. I don't think of her in that way. We work together, yes, but I am seeing someone. It's very serious," he paused. "So serious, in fact, I was going to ask her to marry me. Donna was even helping me pick out rings."
Harvey watched as her mouth fell open shortly, quickly pulling it back up when she realized what she had done. Even though she knew it was a lie, there was even more pain behind her eyes now. The thought of him even pretending to get a ring for someone else, made her sick.
Donna reluctantly spoke. "He is telling the truth. There is absolutely nothing between us. There never was and there never will be," her eyes met his as the words fell from her lips. "We went last week to Tiffany's, but nothing seemed right."
Frank's rage began to show as he shredded through her apartment, kicking over anything and everything in sight. He looked around, pissed off at the world that his plan might be failing. "STOP LYING TO ME, SPECTER. I KNOW YOU ARE GODDAMN LYING," he screamed at the top of his lungs.
"I'm not-"
As soon as Gallo heard the word "not" he stomped over to Donna, and in one quick motion, smacked her across her face with his gun, knocking her out once again.
"You fucking bastard," Harvey yelled, squirming in his place, tears free flowing. "I'm going to end you."
Frank grabbed Donna by her hair to pull her head up so he could see her face. He pointed the gun up at her once again. "Admit that she is the one or I will blow her brains out right now," he demanded.
His heart was being pulled in so many directions in that moment. The pain he felt for Donna, the anger boiling from Gallo's actions, but most importantly the love he felt for her. The passion he felt for her was stronger than anything he had ever felt in his life. He knew exactly how he loved her, but until that second, he couldn't access it. With Donna's life on the line though, he had to.
"Stop. Let her go. You win, you are right," the defeat clear in his voice. "I love her. She is my everything. She's the reason my world keeps spinning. I wake up every morning for her. I get up and go into the office to see her. I crack jokes to watch her laugh. If she was sad, I'd do anything I can to make her happy. I've survived all of these years because of my love for her," he stopped to catch his breath.
Harvey sat there in awe of himself. The same man who couldn't admit how he felt for Donna for twelve years, just poured his soul out to Frank Gallo. If only Donna had been awake to hear him…
"Don't hurt her any more than you already have. I'm sitting here completely destroyed by what I had to witness. You won. You've tortured me. Don't kill her, she didn't put you away… I did. If you want revenge for what happened to you, kill me."
There was no way they were both getting out of this. It had become clear to Harvey the second he heard Gallo's story. If either of them was making it out alive, and Harvey had anything to do with it, it would be her. He would lay his life on the line for her any day. That was what he had to do for the person that he loves.
"How sweet. You are giving yourself up for her. That's very noble of you, I have to admit. That's so unlike the selfish Specter I know." The psychopath was flinging the gun left and right without a care while still holding her head up.
Harvey wanted nothing more than to jump up and beat the shit out of him for being so reckless around her. His anger was building up inside watching him toy with his emotions the way he was. Frank Gallo knew exactly what he was doing now. He had all the leverage in the world to make Harvey do whatever he wanted. This is why he didn't allow himself to feel anything. This is why he had been so closed off from everyone for years. Gallo was absolutely right: caring makes him weak.
But his feelings for Donna are what also made him strong. She is why he kept going and why he was still fighting for her to stay alive. The way she made him feel fueled his entire body to keep protecting her.
The best goddamn closer this city had ever seen, was about to close his final deal.
"I have changed. Everything's changed. I'm not that man anymore. This is between you and me, not her. Who put you away? Me. Who took you away from your wife? Me. Who ripped your child from your arms? Me." Harvey was egging him on. If Donna were awake to see this, she would be infuriated by his recklessness. "It all comes back to me. So, stop being a damn coward and end it already. Get your goddamn revenge on the man who ruined your life."
Gallo was taking Harvey's bait. The man had turned to point the gun back at Harvey for the last time. "You think I'm a coward? I have a fucking gun in my hand. I am getting my goddamn revenge on you. Killing you is a mercy killing. Getting to watch your face as I take the one thing that matters most to you in this world, is all I need. You are sitting on the floor watching as I hold a gun to her head. You are the coward. You wanna see what a real man looks like? I'll fucking show you."
His plan that he thought had been working took a turn for the worst. The gun that was once pointed at him, was now turning back to her direction. She was helpless and she didn't even have a clue as she was still knocked out. No one was saving them, this was it.
The only thing he could think about was that he never got to tell her. The words "I love you" continued on a loop in his head as he watched. His hopes and dreams of once having everything with her, vanished from his mind. All of their almosts were never going to be anything more than that. Their time was coming to an end.
Everything turned into slow motion. His mind and body were no longer connected. It was almost like his panic attack all over again, except this time it was worse. It wasn't an attack; it was real life. He could feel his heart beating out of his chest. His lips parted to scream as he tasted the salty tears that trickled their way into his mouth. Harvey could feel himself screaming for Gallo to stop, but he heard nothing as the entire room went silent.
Silent until he heard the shot.
I am so sorry for leaving it there. Please don't shoot me in your reviews! Love to you all.