A/N: Thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, and/or added this story to your alerts. I really do appreciate it.

If any of you had the same worries as Ever Penning Song, let me assure you that in this story, Donna isn't going anywhere. My heart could barely take seeing her get fired on the show. I don't think I'd survive it if I booted her from my story as well.

As always, any and all feedback is welcome.

Disclaimer: I only own the places and people you fellow Suitors don't recognize.

The first thing Donna noticed as she and Alannah exited the cab they taken to get to O'Callaghan's was that the signage was no longer a tacky neon monstrosity. The owner had traded that in for what seemed to be a hand carved wooden sign. She also noticed that the patio area in the front no longer featured mismatched chairs paired with badly aged tables.

As they entered the pub, she heard a familiar voice exclaim, "Donna!"

The owner practically sprinted over to where she and Alannah stood. She hugged her as she cried, "Monica!"

Monica released her from the hug, "Long time, no see. How has my hair twin been?"

"Fabulous as always," Donna answered with a flip of her hair, "How about you?"

"Wonderful." The fellow red head motioned to the rest of the pub, "As you can see, this place is better than ever."

"Is it finally yours?" the older woman inquired with a smile.

Monica nodded, "Paid it off three years ago and started making renovations. It's definitely not the hole in the wall it used to be."

Donna allowed her gaze to sweep across the pub for a few beats before commenting, "The booths look a lot more comfortable than those drab brown ones that you used to have."

"I know!" Monica emphatically agreed. "I wanted to weep every time I had to clean them."

Alannah laughed, "I forgot how dramatic you two can be when you get together."

"Dramatic?" Her lifelong friend glared at her, "I think you mean remarkable."

"Don't you have a bar to run?" she countered.

"Good point," she granted before giving Donna's shoulder a light squeeze, "Good to see you, Donna. Don't be a stranger and, as always, your money is no good here. Seat yourselves anywhere and I'll send Abby over to take your orders."

Alannah moved towards the back booth that she always sat in whenever she drank in the pub. Donna silently followed after her. Once they were seated, Abby came over to the pair and took their drink orders.

Once she'd left, Donna spoke, "I bet you're proud of all that Monica's done. I know how much she wanted to own and remodel this place."

"I really am." The pride was evident on her face, "There are so many times I offered to pay off the balance and she just pay me back when she could, but she wouldn't do it. Mon wanted to do it all on her own. It's been a long time coming, but all her hard work finally paid off."

"It definitely shows." Donna looked around again, "If you would have just shown me pictures without bringing me here, I never would have guessed this was the same place."

At that moment, Abby returned and sat their drinks down. Once the waitress had left, Alannah took a deep breath before speaking, "I know why you suggested coming here."

"Free drinks and to see you grovel for your bad behavior in the copier room?" Donna suggested.

"That," the young woman laughed as she continued her statement, "and Harvey. He doesn't want to play nice, but if you do, on his orders, he can pacify Jessica."

The red head didn't even try to deny it, "You were always an observant girl."

"I also know that on the very short list of people he trusts, you're probably at the top." She took a sip of her drink, "If I can convince you that I've changed, I've basically convinced Harvey."

The other woman took a sip of her own drink before replying with an amused smile on her face, "Well, you've already shown me that one thing about you has changed."

"What?"

"You were never this much of a straight shooter." The assistant saluted the other woman with her glass, "I like it. It fits you."

Alannah tried to suppress her smile as she dug through the messenger bag she had sat in the booth beside her and pulled a piece of paper out of a folder. She slid it across the table to Donna.

"What's this?"

"Jessica is well liked and respected." A grin broke out one her face, "Harvey, on the other hand, not so much. People don't like that he's always right."

Donna swirled her straw around her glass as she said, "It never seemed to bug you."

Alannah shrugged, "That's because I always viewed him as my teammate not my competition. Jason Terry is still an NBA champion even though he was the Robin to Dirk Nowitzki's Batman. I didn't mind being the sidekick as long as we brought in the wins." She gestured to the list that she'd given to the other woman, "Daniel and I have went through the other departments. This is a list of all the people who will be easily swayed to Daniel's side if Jessica doesn't start doing some ass kissing. Harvey probably won't see me outside of the office and trying to see Jessica in or out of the office is too risky. I need you to pass it along."

"This quite a lengthy list," she observed as she read through the names.

"You know Harvey's always been an overachiever," she teased.

She folded the list and tucked it away in her purse. Both women sipped their drinks as an awkward silence fell between them. Once upon a time, the pair had been good friends. At first, they were bound by the fact that they were both on the short list of people that Harvey would admit that he cared about. As time passed, they'd grown to have a genuine affection for one another. Their bond had never transcended the relationship that each of them had with Harvey, but as two of the most important women in his life, they had come to understand, enjoy, and even care for one another. The secret Alannah had asked Donna to keep from her boss and friend weighed as heavily on their friendship as Alannah's betrayal weighed on the friendship she had forged with Harvey.

Donna broke the silence and, when she did, she asked a question she had been wondering for years,"Why'd you do it?"

Alannah misunderstood and thought she was talking about the list she had compiled, "Because I have a lot to make up for."

"No, I don't mean the list," Donna clarified with a wave of her hand, "That I get. I might as well call you Lady Macbeth with all the guilt you're carrying." She made sure that Alannah was holding her gaze before she explained, "I'm talking about the fact that six months before Jessica and Harvey found out about Hardman's crimes, you found out he was embezzling from the firm. He sold you some sob story and said he'd fix it. He fooled you into thinking he'd paid everything back. When Jessica and Harvey confronted you with the fact he hadn't stopped, you agreed to blackmail him into bowing out of the firm. Yet, when the dust cleared, you were on Hardman's side not Harvey's." The assistant shook her head, "That's what I don't get."

"I loved him," the lawyer explained.

"Bullshit," Donna challenged without missing a beat. "A woman who is completely in love with a man doesn't go to another man's apartment and beg him to listen to why she's made the choices she made no matter how close their friendship is. Don't forget, Lanna, I'm the one who got a cab and brought you here to Monica. I saw how distraught you were. You know Harvey well enough to know that 'I love him' wasn't going to get Harvey to forgive your betrayal. So, again, I ask, why did you side with Daniel Hardman?"

She ran a hand through her hair and sighed in frustration, "The past should stay in the past, Donna. Why I did it doesn't matter as much as the fact that I did it."

"Far enough," the red head accepted and asked another question she'd wondered over the years since Alannah's departure, "If you could go back and do it all over again, would you?"

The younger woman avoided her gaze as she answered, "I don't know if I could have made a different choice."

Donna eyed the other woman for a moment in disbelief, "Then maybe you haven't changed as much as you'd like everyone to believe you have. Thanks for the drink and the list. I'll make sure Harvey gets it.

At that, she gathered up her purse and slid out of her side of the booth. She stalked over to the bar to give a quick goodbye to Monica before making her exit. Alannah watched her leave and couldn't decide if her answer had angered or disappointed her. More importantly, she couldn't decide which reaction made her feel worse.

"Abby," the lawyer called as the waitress walked past her, "Bring me the whole bottle of Jameson."

Donna knocked on her boss' door and hoped that she wasn't interrupting any extracurricular activities. He opened the door and she pushed past him without waiting for him to invite her in. He watched her take a seat on his couch.

"What's the point of knocking if you're not going to wait for me to actually ask you to come in? You might as well just use your key." Harvey said as he closed the door behind him and joined her on the couch.

She ignored his jab, "She's hiding something."

Harvey ran a hand across his face, "So I was right. We shouldn't trust her."

"No, I believe she's sincere about wanting to bring Hardman down." She reached into her purse and tossed the piece of paper Alannah had given her onto the coffee table, "There's a list of people you and Jessica need to schmooze before Hardman has them pledging their loyalty to him."

He picked up the list and glanced over it as he asked, "Then what do you think she's hiding?"

"That night you called me to come get her from outside your door because you couldn't reach Monica, did you listen to any of what she was trying to say?" Donna inquired.

Harvey stared at her, "What does that have to do with anything that's going on right now?"

"Harvey, that's a yes or no question." Donna scolded, "Yes or no."

Harvey set the list back on the table and turned to his assistant, "I already know what she was going to say. 'I love him. He's sorry. He can't help it. His gambling is a disease.' I'd already heard the excuses from him. I didn't want to hear them from her as well."

"I asked her if she could go back, would she make a different choice."

"Let me guess." A humorless chuckle escaped from his lips, "She said if she could go back, she'd change it in a heartbeat."

"Actually," Donna began as she shook her head, "she said she didn't know if she could make a different choice. Not that she wouldn't, but that she couldn't."

"And this matters why?"

"Don't be obtuse," the red head demanded, "You're both lawyers. You pick your words carefully. I'm telling you that something happened back then that we don't know about."

"Maybe so, but it doesn't change anything," he asserted as he turned away from Donna, "We all made our choices and we have to live with them." He picked up the list again, "Thank you for bringing me the list."

Noting how rigid his face was set, she decided not to ignore his dismissal. She stood with her purse, but didn't immediately exit his residence. She opened his liquor cabinet and poured him a glass of scotch. She sat it in front of him, "I'd tell you to have fun figuring out how to approach everyone on that list, but I know you well enough to know that when I leave, you're just going to replay that conversation you had with Alannah all those years ago before you kicked her out. You're going to try to pick up on what your emotions blinded you to and you're going to sulk over what she might have been trying to tell you."

"I don't sulk," he denied.

"Maybe you don't, but you didn't deny the rest of my statements," she countered.

"That's because the rest of your statements were laughable." He looked up from the list, "Like I said, it doesn't matter."

"Save that line for Mike. He wasn't around back then so he might actually believe you." Donna crossed her arms, "You don't want it to matter, but it does. Always has when it comes to her."

Harvey picked up the drink that she had made him in his free hand, "Okay, Dr. Phil. You can stop trying to analyzing me now."

She gave a soft sigh before heading towards the door. She opened it and turned back to him, "Good night, Harvey."

"Lock the door behind you, Donna."

As soon as the door closed behind her, he sat down the list and leaned his head back on the couch. He knew that he should be looking over the names that Alannah had supplied so he could start formulating the best plan of attack, but he knew there was no way he would be able to concentrate on that after the conversation he'd just had with Donna. He downed the glass of scotch before lumbering over to the liquor cabinet and taking the whole bottle. He resumed his place on the couch and poured another drink. He resigned himself to the fact that he wouldn't be able to give that list the concentration it deserved until in the morning. Tonight, it was going to be him and his memories.