Author's Note: Thanks so much to everyone who added this story to their alerts. I hope you guys continue to enjoy this story.

Disclaimer: I still only own Alannah.

Alannah laughed as Daniel showed her to her office, which happened to be right beside Harvey Specter's, "You have quite the sense of humor, Danny."

"Would you believe me if I told you that I had absolutely nothing to do with it?" he asked with a smirk.

The black haired woman shook her head, "Not for one moment."

He patted her on the back, "I didn't think you would. Look at it this way. You and Harvey were close once. Maybe you can be that way again and swing him to our side."

"I doubt that."

He laughed again, "I've never known you to be afraid of a challenge."

"And I'm not about to start now," she said as she opened the door to her office, "If you'll excuse me, I have several clients coming to visit today about switching their business over to the firm. I need to prepare."

"Of course," Daniel nodded before leaning over to whisper in her ear, "I, myself, plan on making rounds through the offices. It'll pay to have as many people on our side as possible."

"Good plan," she agreed before he walked off. When he was out of sight, she exited her office and marched the few feet that separated her yet to be hired assistant's desk from Harvey. Before she got anywhere near Harvey's door, a voice stopped her.

"Where do you think you're going?" Donna questioned.

"I need to talk to Harvey, Donna."

"He's busy with his associate," the red head informed her before returning her attention to her computer.

Alannah gave a sigh of frustration at Donna's dismissal, "They're staring out his window, Donna."

"They're busy," she reiterated, "and he has instructed me not to let anyone into his office until he says otherwise."

The lawyer resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she folded her arms, "Anyone or just me and Daniel?" The other woman ignored her question and continued to pretend she wasn't there, "Nice to see you're ever still the loyal guard dog."

"Can I take a message?" the redhead asked without looking up from the screen.

"Would he get it?" Alannah questioned.

At this, Donna looked up, "I'm insulted that you feel the right to question my integrity and loyalty to Harvey."

The other woman uncrossed her arms and ran a hand through her hair, "I'm choosing to ignore that jab."

"I'm almost certain I don't know what you're talking about."

Another sigh escaped her lips, "Can you just tell him that I need to speak with him before the day is over?"

"I will."

"So, she isn't going to fire me?" Mike asked.

"Not as long as Hardman and Alannah are here. Right now, we need every person possible working to get them out of here." Harvey answered.

Mike felt the knot in his stomach that had been present ever since he found out Jessica Pearson knew he didn't have a law degree began to loosen. He turned slightly towards his mentor, "What exactly makes them so important that Jessica is choosing to overlook the fact that we lied to her?"

Harvey stuck his hands in his pockets and waited a few moments before answering, "Alannah used to be Hardman's secretary when the firm first started. She showed an interest in becoming a lawyer and Hardman decided to put her through law school. After she became an associate, they began having an affair while he was still playing the role of perfect husband. When it came out he was embezzling from the firm, Jessica and I went to her and showed her the proof. She agreed to help us blackmail him into stepping down by threatening to tell his wife about the affair. When the time came to confront him, she backed out and stood beside him."

"But you two managed to blackmail him anyway." Mike asked, "Was there another woman waiting to come forward?"

"No. Jessica didn't think Alannah would actually turn on Hardman and had a private investigator follow her around prior to our confronting him about his crimes. We had pictures of them together so we didn't actually need her." Harvey walked away from the window and sat down at his desk, "Hardman stepped down and Jessica terminated Alannah because she viewed her as a liability since she'd already shown that her loyalty lied with Hardman and not the firm."

"So until those two are dealt with, I'm safe." Mike observed as he sat in a chair opposite Harvey.

"Yes," Harvey agreed, "and since it's going to take a while to outmaneuver those two, we've got time to show her how valuable you can be to this company even without the degree. Just don't screw this up."

"I won't." Mike assured him.

"You better not," the older man warned him, "With those two around, nobody is safe."

Alannah took off her suit jacket and stretched. She'd had a long day renegotiating contracts with the five clients that she knew were going to follow her to Pearson Hardman as well as the two other client's she hadn't expected to end their relationships with Wellington Lockley. Harvey had walked past her office five times and hadn't stopped once. She had no doubt that Donna had delivered her message. The woman might not like her—and Alannah certainly understood why —but she knew the woman was good at her job. No, she knew that Harvey Specter had simply chosen to ignore her request.

She stood and grabbed her jacket as she decided she'd try speaking with him tomorrow. She exited her office and from the hall she could see Jessica Pearson and Harvey talking in his office. The young woman grinned as she realized that Donna must have went home for the day and absolutely nothing stood between her and both of the people she desperately needed to talk to. arH

As she opened the door, Jessica stopped midsentence. Alannah closed the door behind her before saying, "Don't stop on my account. I'm sure I'm probably the topic of conversation."

Harvey spoke before Jessica could respond, "Is there a reason you felt the need to barge into my office and interrupt my meeting?"

"I told Donna that I needed to see you before the day was over." Alannah answered.

"And she told me," he retorted, "I'm a busy man. I didn't have time. Maybe tomorrow."

"Why don't I just join you two? I have to talk to both of you about the exact same thing so why not kill two birds with one stone?" she asked as she sat in the chair next to Jessica.

"You have a lot of nerve t-" Jessica began.

"Yes, I do." Alannah interrupted, "And that nerve is what's going to allow me to help you two get Daniel Hardman out of this firm once and for all."

The older woman laughed, "I'm not saying that we're trying to get rid of Daniel, but if we were, you can guarantee that you are the last person we would go to for help."

Alannah squared her shoulders and prepared for the impending argument, "You need me, Jessica. You have no idea what he's been able to dream up during the five years he had to stew, but I have. I've been there for every plot and every revenge fantasy. You two know he wants you out, but you have no clue what lengths he's prepared to go to."

The other woman was livid, "I need you? Like I needed you five years ago? I needed you then and you backed out after everything I did for you. Putting you through college and then through law school. I deserved your loyalty and you stabbed me in the back for a criminal."

This argument had been brewing for five years and, while Alannah knew she deserved this woman's mistrust and anger, she couldn't help arguing that point, "Let's not rewrite history, Jessica. It's incredibly beneath you. My law career was Hardman's pet project just like Harvey's was yours. You were never invested in me and, let's be honest, the only reason you cared about my law school endeavors is because Pearson Hardman was footing the bill. Nevertheless, I was loyal and grateful to you both, but when I had to choose between you two, I chose the one who had always had my back. The one who had always been my cheerleader. He also happened to be the one I was in love with. I was young and naïve and I'm not that same woman anymore."

"Really?" Harvey asked and when she nodded, he spoke again, "Alright, I'll play along with this little charade. What exactly caused you to change after all these years?"

Even though Harvey was the one who had asked the question, she continued to look at Jessica, "After I started at Wellington Lockley, Daniel and I continued our affair. He had me convinced that he couldn't leave his wife because there wasn't a prenup and that she would keep Sarah from him if they divorced." The young woman took a deep breath, "Then Alicia got sick three years ago. As you two know, my mother died of breast cancer while I was young. He asked me to spend time with Sarah to help her cope."

"You didn't." Jessica questioned in disbelief.

Alannah nodded, "I did. Young and naive, remember? Spending time with Sarah meant spending time with Alicia and I learned that she wasn't anything like Daniel had led me to believe. Daniel knows I'm no longer in love with him but believes there is still friendly affection and that I am his confidant. The truth is, what he did to her makes my skin crawl and when I think of my role in that, it makes me sick to my stomach. I haven't had a good night's sleep in three years because of the guilt." She finally turned her attention towards the man seated across from her, "I need to make this right. Sarah and Alicia deserved a better man than that and a better friend than me. I can't fix the former, but I can do something about the latter. He needs to pay and I have sins to atone for. Let me help you."

Harvey leaned back in his chair, "Let me get this straight. You want us to trust you after you not only backed out of helping us force him out five years ago after we gave you solid proof that he had been embezzling from several clients? You, the mistress, who got close to the man's dying wife and grieving daughter, while you were probably still warming his bed.

"I deserve that," Alannah acquiesced, "but I ended the affair shortly after Alicia got sick. I was young and foolish, but I never intentionally set out to hurt anyone."

"And that makes everything you did okay?" Jessica asked.

"No, it doesn't," the younger woman replied, "I meant what I said in that board meeting before I was voted in. I want to fix what I broke and move forward. I'm not asking you to blindly trust me to help you oust Daniel, but I am asking you to give me an opportunity to prove to you that I'm being sincere. All I want is a chance."

Jessica shook her head, "I'm still not convinced."

"And I don't blame you. We're lawyers. We deal in facts, not emotions. Fortunately, I can give you both." Alannah took a deep breath, "You two were probably talking strategy. Harvey probably wants to wait for him to make his first move. After all, he does some of his best work when his back is against the wall. You, however, aren't totally convinced that's the best plan because, no matter how much you want to, you can't fully detach your emotions from this whole thing. Harvey, as brilliant as he may be, is wrong. You need to take a more aggressive approach. Hardman's first plan is to try to swing everyone to his side and then call for a vote. That way, when you two get kicked out, he can say that everything was taken through the proper channels. He's already making his way through the lower offices and I'm pretty sure he's going to have me start interacting with the other departments as well. "

Jessica took a moment to consider everything the woman before her had just said before she spoke, "I'm not saying I fully trust you, but I'm willing to give you the opportunity to earn my trust."

"You can't be serious." Harvey interjected.

"Oh, but I am." Jessica replied in a tone of voice that let him know she wanted no argument from him, "Let's be reasonable, Harvey. We need all the help we can get and I'm willing to give her a try," she explained before turning her attention back to Alannah, "but know this, Alannah Cavanaugh, I allowed you to make a fool out of me once and escape relatively unscathed. Don't think it'll happen again. You are on an exceptionally short leash and if I begin to suspect, even a little bit, that you're screwing us over again, I will find a way to kick you out of this company and make sure you never work in New York ever again."

The dark haired woman nodded before answering, "Understood."

"Harvey, you and I can finish our discussion later. I've got plans that I can't be late for." Jessica stated as she stood and exited Harvey's office.

Harvey watched her retreat down the hallway for a moment before addressing the woman who was still seated across from him, "She might be willing to believe in your sob story, but I'm not that gullible.

Alannah crossed her arms, "You and I both know Jessica is a lot of things, but gullible isn't one of them. People are capable of changing, Harvey."

"According to you, Hardman didn't, but he's trying his hardest to make everyone believe he did. Who's to say you aren't the same?" he questioned.

"What's it going to take for you to trust me?" she countered.

Harvey didn't bother to hide his smirk, "Hell freezing over?"

"Cute." Alannah said as she rolled her eyes, "You used to be so charming when it came to the ladies. What happened?"

"Oh, I'm still charming," he replied as he got up from his desk and stood in front of his autographed basketball collection, "I just don't consider you a lady."

"Then what am I?"

"A home wrecking parasite?" he suggested.

Alannah stood and turned to face him as she leaned against his desk, "It seems you've lost your touch on insults as well."

"Would you prefer I called you a tawdry little strumpet?"

"I'm more partial to brazen hussy," she retorted with a shrug, "but at least 'tawdry little strumpet' is certainly more becoming of a man of your caliber and vocabulary."

Harvey stared at her a few moments before speaking, "HHar: Interesting."

"What?"

"I seem to remember calling you both those things five years ago and Hardman had to restrain you from attacking me," he recalled.

"Like I said, Harvey. I've grown up," she shrugged again, "I know exactly what I did, how wrong it was, and I've accepted that I can't take it back. We're lawyers, Harvey. We make tough decisions every day. Whether to settle or go to court. What defense to use. Butter up an opposing counsel's witness or play hardball with them when they take the stand. Sometimes, we're right and, sometimes, we're not. I chose Daniel over our clients, Jessica, and you all those years ago. I chose wrong and there's not a day that goes by that I don't regret it. There's no real reason for me to come back here unless I wanted to make it right. I would have continued working my way up the Wellington Lockley ladder. Talk to whatever sources you have to, but I was well on my way to being made a senior partner there."

"And you came back because Daniel asked you to," he observed.

"No, Harvey. I came back because I knew he was going to be gunning for you two. I owe it to Alicia and Sarah to make sure that doesn't happen," she explained.

"You owe it to a dead woman who can no longer confront you about the fact that you spent years screwing her husband and to a girl who doesn't know you have anything to atone for? It all makes sense now. Of course, we should just trust you even though you've got a track record of screwing us over. Selfless martyr isn't a role that suits you well. You might want to try a new angle," he countered, sarcasm dripping from every word.

Alannah pushed off his desk and moved so she was standing right in front of him, "You want a new angle? Fine. Let me put it to you in terms I know you'll understand because you always have been and probably always will be all about yourself. I'm not here because I've become a self-sacrificing idealist who wants hold hands and sing kumbaya with you and Jessica and the rest of the firm. I'm not here because I believe Jessica is the best partner to manage this firm. I'm not here trying to help you guys oust Daniel because I give a damn about him embezzling from clients. I'm here, Harvey, because to a certain extent, I'm still the same selfish girl you remember from five years ago. I'm here because I want to be able to look myself in the mirror and not feel like I'm drowning in shame and disgust. I want Sarah to be able to talk about how much she wants a marriage like her parent's and not feel like I'm going to throw up. I want to donate money to breast cancer charities and feel like I'm doing something good in remembrance of a friend instead of paying a penance for my bad behavior. And, more than anything, I want Daniel Hardman to know that he may have played the girl I was like a fiddle, but that my friendship with his dying wife helped mold me into a woman that he can't manipulate. I took out my matches and I burnt my bridges with Wellington Lockley by returning here and taking my clients with me because someone needs to pay for what we did to that amazing woman and I, for one, am really sick of that someone being me."

Try as he might, Harvey couldn't stop a smirk from showing on his face, "Now that is a reason I can believe."

Alannah sat back down before speaking, "I'm going to prove to you and Jessica that this time around, I'm going to make the right decision."

"See that you do," Harvey moved past her and reclaimed his seat at his desk that he had vacated moments before, "because last time, I asked Jessica to go easy on you after you stood by Hardman's side."

"And let me guess, you won't ask her to go easy this time around."

Harvey leaned across his desk and, in that moment, Alannah realized that the Harvey Specter she had went toe to toe with all those years ago had become a very different and, perhaps, downright dangerous man to cross, "Not only will I not ask her to go easy, but I'll do everything I can to help her destroy your life."

Luckily for Alannah Cavanaugh, so had she, "Duly noted, Spector."