An hour later when Donna could barely keep her eyes open any longer, she told Harvey she was calling it a night and that she had to head home.

Immediately, a look of concern settled on his face. 'Well let me call Ray, he can pick you up. I'd take you myself, but I've got to get this settlement offer done but I don't want you going anywhere.'

Donna sighed, smiling briefly at his protectiveness of her. It was true that he always had been to an extent, but since they'd officially started dating, it was a side to him that she was getting to see more and more often.

'Harvey,' she said gently, 'you can't go wherever I go forever. I won't be babysat like a child just because of Stephen.'

He grimaced as she called him by his first name, resenting the fact that they'd been together even though he knew he had no control over whom she chose to date.

'I know, but I'm not talking about forever. I'm talking about while there is a murderer on the loose in the state of New York who has personally threatened you!'

'Harvey, calm down. You said it yourself, the smart thing to do would be for him to run- far away from here, and far away from me. I'll be fine, I promise.'

He sighed. 'I don't like this.'

'Jessica lived halfway between me and the firm anyway, why don't I walk out with her?' she suggested, trying to help Harvey relax enough to let her walk home.

He nodded his agreement, but Donna could still tell he wasn't pleased with the arrangement. But it had to be done as she was about to fall asleep, so Donna walked out with Jessica, who was luckily heading home at that moment.

Despite having worked together for a long time, there was still a distance between the two women that they'd never really addressed. Jessica was just very refined and tended to keep to herself and Donna had a deep respect for the woman which left her slightly in awe. As a result, they never really spoke on a personal level and so they walked most of the way home in silence.

'Congratulations, by the way. With Harvey, I mean,' Jessica said, breaking the silence.

Donna blushed. 'Thank you,' she said quietly.

'I thought he'd never do it, you know. I thought he was too much of a coward to ask you out, but I suppose you bring out the best in him.'

'Yeah, it only took ten years.'

They both laughed.

'Donna, I know we aren't exactly, well, close, but I hope you know you can come to me with anything. And I hope this Stephen Huntley business blows over soon.' Jessica turned to look at her meaningfully, holding an eye contact that told Donna that she knew there was more to the story than she'd been told. Donna gave her a small smile in return.

They arrived at the top of Jessica's street after five minutes of walking, saying goodnight to each other before Donna continued on her way home. She took her phone out of her bag, smiling to herself as she saw a notification from Harvey.

Let me know when you're home safe x

It had been years since he had put her on his desk, and only a few less since she knew that she wanted more than to be his secretary, but despite the fact that they'd been going out for weeks, the 'x' at the end of the message still sent butterflies dancing through her stomach. She typed out a response, promising to text him when she got back. Her heels tapped against the tarmac, the sound echoing through the streets. Despite living in the 'city that never sleeps', Donna loved the part of New York that she lived in. Her neighborhood was tucked out of the way, so that late at night it was almost peaceful, or as peaceful as the city ever got. Two more notifications came through, a text from her sister and a reminder that a discount voucher at a department store expired at the end of the week- not that she loved shopping in department stores, but she did like the discounts.

Distracted by responding to her sister with whom she had a somewhat strained relationship, Donna didn't notice the two men walking up the alley adjacent to the street she was on until she felt a hand on her waist that pulled her sharply to her left, almost causing her to lose balance and to fall into the man stood behind her. She gasped, standing perfectly still as she contemplated what her options were. There were two of them (she could hear them talking to each other), and she knew that she'd have to play along with whatever they wanted- probably just her phone and purse. Whoever it was that had his arm around her took her phone and threw it against the wall, shattering it. With a sinking feeling in her stomach, Donna realised that they didn't want her phone.

'Who the hell are you?' she asked, sounding much braver than she felt. Having lived in New York for years, she knew how to handle herself, but if this was in any way connected to Stephen Huntley escaping prison, she knew she was in over her head.

'A friend of a friend, shall we say,' one of the men said, not the one holding her but the other one. 'Get in the van.' He pointed to a parked vehicle ten feet away and Donna immediately went into fight-or-flight, knowing that if she got into that van then she was going to be in huge trouble. Kicking and trying to pull herself free, Donna tried to get away. The firm was only a few minutes away: if she could get there she could be safe. The first man moved his hand from her waist and gripped her arm tighter, using his other to slap her hard across the face and her finger shot up to her cheek which stung in the cold, crisp air.

'Get the hell away from me, or I swear to god-'

She was cut short by a sudden gasp of fear as she felt something small and metal dig into her side. She knew what it was without looking down and she immediately felt her legs start shaking with fear. If they shot her, she didn't stand a chance.

'You were saying?' The man holding her spoke this time, easily pulling her further away from the well-lit street and towards the van cloaked in semi-darkness.

Donna stayed remarkably calm, knowing that a cool head on her shoulders was the only advantage she could give herself over these brutes, who knew they had the upper hand.

'Did Stephen Huntley send you?' she asked, trying to distract both herself and the men.

'She's smart too, Huntley didn't mention that!' the first man laughed, a sound which sent shivers up her spine. 'We're taking you to see him, so you two can pick up exactly where you left off. And this time, Harvey Specter won't be able to interrupt you.'

God, what she wouldn't give to go back in time and take Harvey up on his offer to have Ray take her home. Why hadn't she agreed with him? Why hadn't she just waited another hour so he could walk with her? God, why had she been so stupid?

Thinking of Harvey made her think about what he would do, and the irony of the fact that she now had a literal gun held against her did not escape her.

What would Harvey do? Anything of 146 other things.

She just had to think of one of 146 things to do.

The three of them reached the van and Donna heard the man who wasn't holding onto her climb into the front seat. And then it occurred to her. Her advantage.

They didn't think she'd be able to get away.

Though normally misogynistic attitudes sent rage coursing through her, here it would work to her advantage- she had the element of surprise, contrary to their opinion. She heard the van door slam shut, and she took her chance. Whirling around to face the man with his arm around her, she managed to pull the gun out of his hand. In his shock, Donna was able to smack him around the head with it, sending him reeling back into the alley wall where he fell into a heap. By this time, the other man had gotten back out of the van and was making his way over to her, but he stopped in his tracks when he saw the gun.

'Stay the hell away from me, or I swear I'll shoot.'

She could tell he didn't believe her, and whether it was the way she was swaying slightly in her Louboutins or the fact that her voice shook slightly as she issued the threat, she didn't care. In fact, her plan very much relied on him not believing her. With a quick glance at his accomplice on the floor, the man continued to move towards her, albeit slowly.

'Put the gun down now, and we can talk this through. Ok? We'll leave, just give us back the gun,' he tried to bargain, but Donna wasn't that naive. If Stephen had gone to the trouble of sending two men after her, she knew he wouldn't let her go that easily.

She kept holding the gun towards the man, waiting for him to get close enough that she could shoot him in the leg, not killing him but certainly giving herself time to run away.

And she did.

Being Donna, she was confident in a pair of stilettos and so she sprinted back to the firm as quickly as she could, not trusting that the minimal security in her apartment building would be enough to keep Huntley and his cronies out. Harvey would know what to do. Harvey would fix it, like he fixed everything.

She didn't remember arriving at the firm, or the elevator ride up to the top floor, but somehow she found herself standing in the doorway of Harvey's office, breathing heavily and trying to resist the urge to burst into tears.

He looked up, barely recognising the disheveled woman in front of him.

'Donna?' he said, immediately standing up and moving over to her. 'Donna, what the hell happened?'