Chapter 44

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

AN1: Thank you so much for the amazing support you've given me for this story. I am so overwhelmed and humbled. This is the last chapter and I hope you enjoy.


The next morning both Harvey and Mike got up early because they knew they had to be in court, but thanks to their morning activities in the shower they are both running late.

"Ray's downstairs." Harvey reveals, walking into his bedroom where Mike is still getting ready.

"Okay, didn't we get up early to avoid running late?" Mike asks with an amused look as Harvey puts on his jacket.

"Yeah, things didn't exactly go to plan." Harvey says, walking over to his boyfriend, holding Mike's jacket, "But I don't know about you, but I would take how we spent the morning over being on time any day." Harvey says.

"Me too." Mike says, turning around and kissing Harvey.

"We got to go." Harvey says once they break apart, and Harvey hands Mike his jacket.

"Yep, let's go win this thing." Mike comments, and the two of them exchange smiles and head out of Harvey's condo, grabbing what they need as they go.


When they get to the courthouse a little while later Mike and Harvey are walking to the court room when they see Donna waiting.

"I'll see you in there." Mike tells Harvey before heading in, walking past Donna, giving her a supportive smile as he goes.

"You shouldn't be here." Harvey tells Donna once Mike walks in.

"Stephen said that we're no different than he is." Donna reveals, "I need to see you show him that he's wrong."

"This isn't his trial, it's Ava's." Harvey points out.

"You're not gonna put him on the stand?" Donna asks shocked. "You said you were gonna make him pay."

"Donna, I will." Harvey assures her, "But now is not the time." Harvey explains.

"Then when?" Donna asks curious, "Because he killed people and if we let him get away with it, then maybe we are no different than he is." She says.

"We're not." Harvey assures Donna before heading into the court room, pulling out his phone out to text Katrina as he goes so that she can come sit with Donna in the gallery because he knows that Donna isn't going to leave, and it would probably be better for her not to be alone.


A while later Mariga has testified and Harvey and Mike are walking to the waiting room where Jessica is.

"Why didn't you just jump right in there?" Mike asks Harvey as he knows it was the smart thing to do.

"I get it, you read a book that says you don't let the jury sit with things." Harvey says, "The only problem is…."

"We're not inside of a book." Jessica says as Harvey and Mike walk into the room.

"And I don't want to seem defensive." Harvey explains.

"Harvey, we still have a ton of shit to hit him with." Mike points out.

"Were you in there? They're buying what he's saying." Harvey explains.

"Then we make them buy something else." Jessica says.

"We got a pair of aces. If the jury believes that Cameron's got three of a kind, we're not gonna win." Harvey explains.

"We can't go after Stephen." Mike says.

"Cameron won't go after Ava if I can convince him it was Stephen." Harvey explains, looking at Jessica.

"You went to Cameron?" Jessica asks, sounding a little surprised.

"Yes."

"And you're going to trust him?" Jessica asks, watching Harvey closely.

"I'm not sure we have another choice." Harvey admits, and as he does the door opens and Stephen walks in.

"If you're thinking what I think you're thinking, don't." Stephen warns as Jessica stands up.

"I'm thinking I'd like to rip your face off." Jessica comments.

"You get Mariga to point the finger at me, I will point it straight at Ava." Stephen warns.

"Stephen, Jessica doesn't respond well to threats." Harvey reveals.

"And I don't take people threatening my mother well, just as Daniel Hardman." Mike says in a warning tone of voice.

"Mike." Jessica says, giving her son a look which says, 'you don't have to get involved."

"Well, I don't make threats. I give warnings. You've been warned." Stephen says before leaving, as he leaves Harvey, Mike and Jessica exchange looks, it being clear that all three of them are worried about what is going to happen.


A while later Harvey has called Stephen up to the stand and it backfired on him, and because of that Harvey has gone after Cameron to talk to him, Mike is telling everything to Ava and Jessica is on her phone in the private room she was in with Harvey and Mike earlier.

"Did you know that Harvey was going to ambush Stephen on the stand?" Darby asks as he walks into the room, causing Jessica to hang up her phone.

"I wouldn't have stopped him if I did." Jessica reveals, meaning that.

"And to hell with the ramifications." Darby says angrily.

"The Ramifications for who, Edward?" Jessica asks.

"I didn't come here to fight with you, Jessica." Darby reveals, "But Stephen didn't take the most direct hit, Ava did." Darby says, pain in his voice as it is clear how much Ava means to him.

"You keep talking about how much you care about Ava, but I've only just met her." Jessica says, walking towards him, "And you're the one who did what you did." Jessica says and as she does the door opens and Ava walks in, causing Darby to turn around.

"I treated you as if you were my own blood." Ava tells Darby.

"Ava…"

"Did you do this to me?" Ava asks.

"Of course I didn't." Darby answers without hesitation.

"Did you keep this from me?" Ava asks, taking a step forward, "I want to hear you say it."

"I didn't know until it was too late." Darby explains and Ava slaps him across the face, "I didn't want to burden you with what had been done to get your pipeline, and there was nothing I could do to undo it."

"Burden me? What about protecting me?" Ava asks, sounding hurt.

"Well, that's exactly what I was doing when I assigned Harvey to the case." Darby explains.

"And after I was brought up on murder charges, rather than tell me, you send the man who committed the crime. Who were you trying not to burden then?" Ava asks, before walking out of the room.

Once Ava walks out of the room Darby turns around to look at Jessica.

"You once asked me if she knew about her father and I." Darby says, "In those days, to be a lawyer, and to be out, not possible, Harvey and Mike are going to have a hard time today if they ever decide to make their relationship public." Darby reveals, saying something that Jessica has been thinking about a lot lately, more than she'd admit, "Her father was in the oil business, he would have been finished." Darby reveals.

"What does that have to do…." Jessica starts to say.

"We used to go away on occasion. In order to do that, Ava joined us and pretended to be my girlfriend. She did that for us." Darby explains, "Ava's family to me. I sent Stephen out there to help her. I didn't know what he'd do, and I would give anything to undo it."

"What do you want for me, Edward?" Jessica asks curious.

"I want you to put aside your anger, and figure out a way to help." Edward requests, and hearing that an idea starts to form in Jessica's mind.


A while later, after a very long day, Harvey is very much looking forward to having a relaxing night, which is why he's put a phone order in for take away from his and Mike's favourite restaurant and is waiting for his boyfriend in his condo so that they can spend the night together.

Hearing a knock on his door Harvey goes to answer it, checking his watch as he goes and realising that Mike is earlier than he was expecting.

"You're ear…." Harvey starts to say as he opens the door, though to his surprise he finds a Pearson on the other side, though not the Pearson he was expecting, "What are you doing here?" Harvey asks Jessica.

"I'm here to put aside my anger." Jessica reveals.

"We're in the middle of a murder trial." Harvey comments.

"We can spare five minutes for this." Jessica says, walking into the condo.

"Wait a second, I gave you that bottle when you took over from Daniel." Harvey realises.

"I know." Jessica confirms.

"I told you to only open it in case of an emergency." Harvey reminds her as Jessica puts the bottle down on the table and puts her bag on one of the stalls.

"You think this isn't an emergency?" Jessica asks, walking over to Harvey's drink cart, "We're about to lose a huge murder case, and it turns out the person behind the it is one of our lawyers, and we're in business with the man who helped covered it up." Jessica says, picking up two glasses and walking back over to Harvey, "But the thing that's been most on my mind is that you goddamn betrayed me." Jessica says as she pours two glasses of scotch, one for her and one for Harvey, "Now, the truth is, you warned me about all of this, and I'm tired of feeling betrayed by you, I'd rather forgive you." Jessica reveals.

"Can you?" Harvey ask.

"Why do you think I'm here?" Jessica asks curious.

"I never should have come after you, I'm sorry." Harvey says, completely meaning that.

"You didn't kill anyone, and if I'm really going to forgive you, then I need to tell you I'm sorry that I made you want to do it in the first place." Jessica says and the both toast.

"Well, in the interest of forgiveness I should tell you that Mike's on his way over." Harvey reveals, "Is me and Mike being together something you can be okay with?" he asks.

"I've never had a problem with it Harvey. I was mad that you kept it from me, but I've seen how much you mean to each other, how happy you are, and I'm glad." Jessica reveals, completely meaning that, "But like I already said, don't you dare hurt him again." Jessica says, in a warning tone of voice.

"Thanks Jessica." Harvey says, gratefully, "What made you change your mind about forgiving me for everything else?" he asks curious.

"Edward." Jessica reveals, taking several steps away, "He said Ava was family to him, your family to me, you were since before you started to date Mike, and you did what he didn't. You came clean." Jessica says, meaning that.

"Is that all you came here to tell me?" Harvey asks curious.

"Like you said, we're in the middle of a murder trial." Jessica points out.

"And you have an idea." Harvey realises.

"We're not the only people that are like family to each other, and sometimes you have to put your family in a position where they don't have a choice." Jessica tells Harvey.

"What do you need me to do?" Harvey asks curious and Jessica starts to explain her plan.

For the next five minutes Jessica explains all about her plan, and honestly Harvey very much likes it, until there is a knock on the door.

"That will be Mike." Harvey comments.

"Then you better go answer." Jessica says and Harvey heads to the door and answers it, and on the other side he sees the Pearson he's been waiting to see.

"Hey." Harvey greats, and even from the lounge room Jessica can hear happiness in Harvey's voice and it is also gentle and kind in a way she is pretty sure she hasn't heard before.

"Hi." Mike responds, leaning in and kissing Harvey, "So I'm pretty sure that you ordered way more food than you needed to." Mike admits.

"I like choices." Harvey says as Mike walks in and he closes the door behind him, "Plus we both know that you'll keep the leftovers."

"Actually, my fridge is pretty full, we've been going out to dinner every night since we got back together." Mike reminds Harvey, looking right at him, but then as he turns he realises who else in the apartment, "Mom?" Mike asks surprised as Harvey takes the food over to the table.

"Mike." Jessica greats.

"Is something wrong?" Mike asks confused, having been pretty sure that things between his mother and Harvey still aren't great.

"No, we have a new plan, Harvey will fill you in." Jessica says, walking over to her bag and grabbing it, "I'll see you both tomorrow." Jessica says, looking between Harvey and Mike.

"You going to take the bottle?" Harvey asks curious.

"No, you keep it." Jessica says, giving her son a hug before walking out and leaving Harvey and Mike alone.

"Okay, I'm so confused right now." Mike admits, once his mother has left.

"Jessica and I talked about things, we're good again." Harvey reveals, knowing that Mike would be glad about that.

"Good." Mike says, sounding glad about that, as he hated his mother and Harvey fighting, "So, what's this new plan?" Mike asks, walking over to Harvey.

"We're gonna convince Cameron that Ava's innocent." Harvey explains to Mike.

"Wasn't that the old plan?" Mike asks as Harvey pours Mike a drink too.

"That was the old goal. This time it's you who's going to Cameron." Harvey explains to Mike as he hands him the glass.

"You have a better relationship with Cameron than me and he wouldn't hear the truth from you, how's he going to hear it from me?" Mike asks curious.

"Cameron can't see the truth because all he sees is that he has a winnable case." Harvey explains to Mike.

"How does that effect what I just said?" Mike asks curious.

"Think back for a minute." Harvey points out, "Remember what it is like to be a prosecutor, to see all accused as nails."

"How am I gonna change that?" Mike asks curious.

"You're gonna remind him about the time he hit the wrong nail." Harvey explains to Mike.

"How exactly am I going to do that?" Mike asks curious.

"Come eat dinner and then I'll explain." Harvey tells his boyfriend, Mike nods and they head over to the table, and as they sleep and eat Harvey explains the entire plan to Mike.


After eating dinner with Harvey mike goes to talk to Clifford Danner, before once more returning to Harvey's condo where he once more spent the night as even though he could have gone back to his own place Mike really didn't want to as after their time apart he doesn't want to spend any more nights alone.

The next morning Mike brings Clifford to Cameron, and after that conversation Cameron has headed straight to the room where Harvey, Jessica, Ava and Darby are.

"How much did you pay him?" Cameron asks, walking into the room.

"Cameron." Harvey says, in a warning tone of voice.

"Pay who?" Ava asks confused.

"Don't play dumb. Clifford Danner." Cameron says.

"Who the hell is Clifford Danner?" Ava asks, having no idea what is going on.

"He was an innocent person that Cameron put behind bars." Harvey explains.

"And I thought he would make you see reason." Jessica explains.

"That has nothing to do with this." Cameron says, "And I didn't put him behind bars, you did." He says to Harvey.

"Then I got him out." Harvey explains

"Well, you're not getting her out, because she did it, and yesterday your own colleague said that she did it." Cameron points out.

"He did not say that and you know it." Darby argues.

"You willing to take that risk?" Cameron asks.

"What are you suggesting?" Jessica asks.

"I've worked with him long enough to know what he's suggesting. Cameron Dennis doesn't go to verdict. He cuts deals." Harvey explains to everyone.

"Then let me tell you about what's behind door number one, eight years." Cameron reveals, looking between everyone, "Eight years instead of forever."

"Leave us alone." Harvey requests.

"Courts in ten minutes, you have until then." Cameron says before leaving.

"Harvey, he's got us and you know it." Jessica informs him.

"No, he doesn't." Harvey argues, "She's not going to prison for one day."

"She's going for the rest of her life if we don't take this deal.'" Jessica says.

"I am not losing to him." Harvey says.

"Your blood feud or whatever it is you have with that man is what put the target on my back in the first place." Ava says, sounding upset.

"Ava, we need to face reality." Jessica says.

"She is not taking that deal." Darby says.

"She better, because she can't buy her way out of it, and you can't cover up your way out of it." Jessica says, knowing that.

"I don't care." Darby says.

"Well, what's your idea? Because unless you're gonna testify that Stephen did this without Ava's knowledge, you can't help. And as you said, you have no proof. So why don't you get out of the room and let the grown-ups talk?" Harvey suggest, becoming more than a little annoyed with Darby.

"What if I was to testify to that?" Darby asks.

"What are you talking about?" Ava asks, standing up, and walking over to Darby.

"I'm talking about putting words to a conversation that should have happened but didn't." Darby informs the group.

"You'd say that you confronted Stephen, and he admitted it?" Jessica asks, sitting down on the table.

"I made this mess. It's up to me to clear it up." Darby realises.

"This isn't gonna help. You're her old friend coming to her aid at the last second. It's a lie. The jury will see right through it." Harvey explains.

"Then we need to make Cameron believe it." Jessica realises, turning to look at Harvey, "Harvey, Cameron wants a win. You need to convince him this is a win."

"Can you do that?" Darby asks.

"I guess it's the best shot we have." Harvey realises.


After coming to the decision Harvey and Darby leave the room together and they both head to the men's bathroom where they find Cameron washing his hands.

"I knew you would cave. With five minutes to spare." Cameron says, seeing them.

"We're not here to take your offer, Cameron, we want you to take ours." Harvey reveals as Cameron picks up his jacket from where he hung it.

"Nah, I'm not negotiating. Eight years is final." Cameron reveals.

"This isn't about making a deal for Ava." Harvey reveals.

"It's about making a deal for me." Darby explains.

"If he's got something to say about this, you should put him on the stand." Cameron informs Harvey.

"I already trusted you once, I need your word." Harvey says and for a few second Cameron is looking like he is debating it.

"Go ahead." He tells Darby, "Of the record."

"I instructed Stephen Huntley to do whatever it took to get Ava her pipeline, and I told him to do it behind her back." Darby explains.

"So you authorized these murders." Cameron says.

"Absolutely not." Darby objects, "When I heard people had been killed, I confronted him immediately." Darby lies.

"And what did he say?" Cameron asks.

"He didn't care that he'd resorted to murder. His job was to get things done." Edward explains.

"You just admitted to being an accessory after the fact." Cameron reveals.

"No, he didn't." Harvey points out.

"I get it. Off the record." Cameron realises, "What do you want?" he asks, looking at Harvey.

"Edward pleads to obstruction of justice, five years' probation." Harvey requests.

"You drop the charges against Ava." Darby requests.

"And he testifies at Stephen Huntley's murder trial." Harvey reveals and for a little while Cameron looks like he is debating, trying to decide what to do.

"And why would I swap out Ava for her minion?" Cameron asks.

"Cameron, you gave us that offer for a reason. You're at the finish line you can taste the win, but it's not one hundred percent, and you know it, because you're still banking on an admitted murderer with an incentive to lie. I'm giving you a respected lawyer with an incentive to keep his mouth shut." Harvey explains, "You know who has a better chance at getting you a win." He says, and Cameron sighs.

"Draw up the paperwork." Cameron requests, before Cameron walks out of the room.


Hours later, when the only thing left for the deal is Darby to sign it, Donna is walking up to a bar where Stephen is sitting alone and drinking.

"I thought you never wanted to see me again." Stephen comments when he sees her.

"I thought about what you said." Donna reveals.

"What, about the kind of business your firm does?" Stephen asks.

"Yes. And I realised that maybe you're not as bad as I said you were." Donna comments.

"No?" Stephen asks surprised.

"No. you're much worse." Donna says and FBI agents come into view, "Harvey and Cameron made a deal to take you down, and part of that deal was that I got to be the one to tell you about it." Donna reveals as the agents come over to Stephen and arrest him.

"I meant it when is said I never meant to hurt you." Stephen reveals.

"And I meant it when I said that you make me sick." Donna says completely meaning that, and Stephen is taken away.

As Donna watches Stephen go, Katrina, who was waiting outside, walks in and over to her friend.

"Let's get out of here." Katrina says to her friend, after giving her a few moments to comprehend what just happened.

"I need a drink, a lot of them." Donna admits.

"I have just the thing." Katrina admits, linking arms with Donna and the two of them head out of the bar, Donna not being entirely sure what she is feeling right now.


While Donna and Katrina are watching Stephen get arrested, Harvey, Mike, Jessica, Darby and Cameron are in the conference room of Pearson Darby Specter, dealing with the paperwork and finalizing everything.

"It's all there. You testify, you get five years' probation." Cameron says as Darby reads the paperwork.

"And he pleads obstruction of justice." Harvey says.

"What is this?" Darby asks, finding something in the paperwork.

"What is what?" Cameron asks.

"This says that I forfeit my license to practice law in this country." Darby says, looking up at Cameron.

"Oh, that's just something I added in." Cameron explains, completely lying.

"This is unacceptable." Darby objects.

"Wait a minute, how could you add that in if we did the paperwork?" Mike asks, already knowing the answer.

"And if he can't practice law in this country, he can't be a member of our firm." Harvey says.

"We must have agreed to it in advance." Mike says, and he, Harvey and Jessica who are all sitting on the same side of the table give knowing looks.

"You set this whole thing up." Darby says shocked, pointing at Harvey, and leaning forward in his chair.

"Jessica set this whole thing up." Harvey corrects, and Jessica gives Darby a smug look, "But what's it matter? You really gonna put this on Ava when you can get off with a slap on the wrist?" Harvey asks

"I asked you to put aside your anger." Darby says to Jessica.

"I did." Jessica says, "You said Ava was family. The thing about family is they make it easy to put you in the position where you don't have a choice." Jessica explains.

"Now, you gonna sign that deal, or do I just pick up the trial right where we left off?" Cameron asks and Darby pulls out a pen from his pocket and signs.

"You're doing the right thing, Edward. We'll worry about the terms of our dissolution tomorrow." Jessica says and Darby leaves. stands up and walks towards the door, "And Edward." Jessica says, stopping him before he leaves, "We may be getting a divorce, but I fully intend on keeping ownership of the house." Jessica says and Darby leaves.

"Who'd thought we'd end up here?" Cameron ask as he picks up the signed deal.

"I did." Harvey says.

"No, you didn't." Cameron says as Mike and Jessica exchange amused looks, "You took a chance with Clifford Danner, and you know it." He says.

"It wasn't a chance." Harvey says, standing up, "I played the man, and Cameron, you're not only about winning. You're about putting guilty people away." He says.

"Nice working with you." Cameron admits as he heads to the door.

"Onetime deal." Jessica informs him.

"I guess this means you're not looking for another named partner?" Cameron asks.

"Goodbye, Cameron." Jessica says and as Cameron leaves, Harvey sits back down and he, Jessica and Mike exchange glad looks.

"We really did it." Mike says looking amazed.

"Yeah, we did." Harvey confirms, smiling at his boyfriend, "We should go celebrate." He says.

"Definitely." Mike confirms.

"Well, even though I'm sure it's not what you had in mind, how about the three of us go to dinner, on me." Jessica reveals, looking between her son and his boyfriend, who she already considers to be family.

"That's sounds good." Harvey says with a nod, knowing that this is Jessica's way of showing that things are okay between all three of them, that she is completely okay with him and Mike.

"I'm in." Mike says without hesitation.


After leaving the bar Donna and Katrina went straight to Katrina's and the two of them are eating pizza, watching movies, and drinking.

"I should have seen it." Donna says, "I should have realised."

"Donna…." Katrina starts to say.

"No, don't Donna me. I'm meant to be really good at reading people, I should have seen this." Donna says, guilt in her voice.

"Hey, look at me." Katrina says, putting her hands on her friends' leg, and relucent Donna turns to look at her, "You couldn't have seen this coming, no one could have seen this coming."

"But…" Donna starts to say.

"But nothing. You like a guy, you gave him a chance, you couldn't have known what he did, there was no way for you to have known." Katrina tells her friend, "And I'm sorry for convincing you to give him a shot."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, you're my friend, you were trying to help." Donna tells Katrina, not wanting her to blame herself, "But for the record I may not be taking your advice on guys for a while." She jokes.

"That's probably a good call, there's a reason I'm still single." Katrina admits.

"I'm betting there's a lot of them." Donna teases,

"Yep, no one can put up with how awesome I am." Katrina says.

"I'll drink to that." Donna says, pouring both herself and Katrina another drink, and that's just what they do and even though things are bad Donna realises that just sitting with Katrina makes things feel better and she finds herself smiling despite how crap she feels.


As they all had business to finish at the firm it was a little while after Cameron left before Harvey, Jessica, and Mike got into Ray's car and headed to a restaurant to have dinner together.

"I think I should propose a toast." Harvey says once they have wine, "To beating Darby, and to Pearson Specter." He says, raising his glass it being clear to Jessica, even if it is not clear to Mike, that he isn't just talking about the firm being Pearson Specter, he's talking about the three of them.

"To Pearson Specter." Jessica and Mike repeat, Mike feeling his heart flicker a little at the sound of those two names together though he doesn't let it show.

"I'd like to say something." Jessica says, once she, Harvey and Mike have all taken a drink, doing so because there aren't many people around, "But not as managing partner, or as either of your boss, but as Mike's mother." Jessica reveals and at that both Harvey and Mike feel a little nervous, "All I've ever wanted for you Mike is to be happy and to be with someone who loves you completely, who is good for you, and who protects and helps you more than he hurts you and Harvey is all those things to you." Jessica tells her son, who reaches out and takes Harvey's hand under the table, "He's loves you, and you love him, and your partners, real partners, and I've seen that what you have is incredible, and real, and true." Jessica says looking between Harvey and Mike.

"Mom…" Mike starts to say, sounding amazed.

"My point is, I'm glad you've finally found what I've always wanted for you, and even though we're long past you needing it, you two have my complete approval, and support, always." Jessica says, smiling at her son and Harvey.

"Thanks Mom." Mike says, his mother's words meaning everything to him.

"Yeah, thank you, Jessica." Harvey says, giving Jessica an amazed look as even though she was speaking to Mike it means so much to him to hear those words.


Horus later, after a very enjoyable dinner with his mother and Harvey where he and Harvey didn't once try to hide what they are, Mike is lying in Harvey's bed, in the arms of the man he loves.

While Harvey fell asleep a little while ago Mike is still awake, just lying on Harvey's chest and listening to his heart beat, and as he listens Mike realises that he finally has everything he's always wanted; he's working for his mother, and things between them are good, in a job he loves and that no one doubts he doesn't deserve, he has not one, but two friends who are like protective big sisters to him, that he loves as if they really were, and he has Harvey.

For the first time he is with someone who he loves and who even though he has been hurt by he knows, without a doubt, would never hurt him again, he's with someone who he not only loves completely, but trusts completely, something he never thought he would have.

Looking up at Harvey's sleeping face, Mike leans up and places a gentle kiss on Harvey's lips before snuggling deeper into Harvey's arm and closing his eyes. Before long Mike is drifting off to sleep, with the knowledge that he is happy, and loved and believing that everything will be okay.

The End


AN2: Thank you so much for supporting this story. I was never sure where to end this story, but I figured this was a good place. I'll never rule out writing a sequel, but at the moment I have no plans.