You're the reason that I feel so strong
The reason that I'm hanging on
You know you gave me all the time
Oh, did I give enough of mine?
Vance Joy - Mess Is Mine
A/N - I deeply apologise for the delay. Just wanted to say thank you so much for all the support through this. It means the world when people review/fav/follow. Hopefully next chapter should be up soon and will be really Darvey orientated. They finally talk properly. Hope everyone is well and excited for the mid-season finale. How awesome was that last episode?
PS- I'm always up for a chat about the show if anyone is interested.
-SUITS-
"Shit." Harvey tried to hide his worry.
"What?" Donna enquired.
"It's Mike." Harvey simply stated. He shot out of his chair and answered the phone as he headed out of the door, trying to ignore Donna's indignant look.
"Mike?" Harvey's voice was now full of concern as he strolled through the hospital.
"Mr Specter?" Harvey's concern only got worse when he was answered by an unfamiliar voice. What could have happened? It hadn't even been 24 hours since he'd left Mike, although it felt like much longer.
"Yes." Harvey simply stated, he needed answers now.
"You're stated as Mike Ross' attorney on his records?" the operator questioned.
"That's right. What's happened?" Harvey was trying to stay professional but all he wanted to do was scream at the man on the other end of the phone to tell him what had happened.
"Mr Ross was in an altercation this morning and has been sent to solitary. He's requested to speak to his lawyer in order to contend the judgement." Harvey's heart was in his throat. Was Mike hurt? He'd already got in a fight? How did that happen? Normally they only sent people to solitary if they had clear evidence that person had started the fight. But altercation could mean anything. Were weapons involved? It had to be serious if he had been sent to solitary.
"I'll be over as soon as possible." Harvey replied swiftly, managing to keep his voice level. He quickly reentered the room. Donna's gaze was already fixa
Lted on the door as he entered and she gave him a questioning look. He grabbed his coat.
"I need to go. I think you should be the one to speak to Rachel." He said and went to leave the room but Donna stopped him by standing in front of the door. He hated how she could move so quickly in those heels.
"Harvey, what happened?" Her voice was laced with worry. She could see in his frown that something was wrong. Harvey was eager to go but quickly explained the phone call to her.
"I mean, what the hell did he do? I knew this was a bad idea but I thought he'd last more than 24 hours." Donna could see how worked up he was getting and could hear the crack in his voice. She observed his frown line deepening and his shoulders were tense.
She quickly reached forwards and straightened his tie. He'd flung the pinstriped jacket on so quickly and it didn't look right at all, so she grabbed both sides and pulled it around him and then did the button and straightened the shirt underneath. The feeling of her hands under his shirt was warm and she could feel the tension in his abs as he was still fretting in front of her.
Harvey sighed. "Donna. I have to get going." What she had done had worked though. Harvey could feel himself relax and was already thinking more rationally. There was no point stressing about it, he just needed to go see Mike.
"I know." Donna replied softly but she was still straightening him out, her hands were moving upwards, to his hair and she patted the sides down, being careful not to fluff up at the parting. She reached his trouser legs and Harvey could feel his want and need. They'd been interrupted too soon this morning and he needed to complete the task at some point. Her hands carefully avoided his most sensitive area and he relaxed again as she pulled at the hems of his trousers.
Finally she straightened herself out and looked into his eyes, they were only centimetres apart. Harvey could smell her perfume, alongside the sweetness of the coffee in her breath.
"Now you're ready." She said and there was a moment of silence as they looked at each other, Harvey wondering how quickly he needed to be.
"Thank you." He managed to say and she mock gasped in surprise. He laughed quietly but didn't take his eyes off of her. She could see that he had calmed down but knew he wasn't quite ready yet. So she leaned in, putting one arm around his shoulder and reaching the other up to behind his ear.
"Everything is going to be fine." She almost whispered and Harvey responded instantly by putting his own hand behind her head and gently pulling her forward. There lips met briefly in a tender and sweet kiss, only for a few seconds. As he broke away, Harvey was already sliding past her, out of the door.
"I know." He said simply.
Just as he was leaving, he peeked back through at her and his face lifted slightly, hinting at her favourite signature smirk.
-SUITS-
Harvey walked swiftly up to the desk and demanded to see Mike now. He didn't care about acting professional anymore. Alongside contraband checks, ID checks and the drive up here, it had been over 2 hours since Mike's call and the unknowing was driving him mad.
He was escorted to a large cafeteria type area where the odd prisoner was meeting with groups of friends or family around small metallic tables. So far, the walls had been very bland. The same plain light blue colour. But in this room, the walls had wallpaper with different child cartoons, vibrant colours and dreamy landscapes. Despite this, there were still signs everywhere, warning prisoners and visitors alike of violations. "Any attempt to introduce contraband into the prison is a FELONY", "Hands must be visible at all times." etc.
Harvey thought about Mike, whether he'd be in this room with his son/daughter. At least for a few months before he was released. Though, at this stage, Harvey wasn't positive about him getting an early release for good behaviour. He couldn't allow for this to be the first place for Mike to see his child. No, Mike would be at the birth. He'd ensure that he got him out before that. The kid was already sacrificing enough.
The juxtaposition between being in the prison and being outside was unnerving for Harvey. Outside, it was a typical New York Autumnal day with bright skies but a cold wind. Inside the prison, everything was bland and dismal but the atmosphere was hot and stuffy. Even in this visitation area, there was a musky smell that he instantly was familiar with as he had been in prisons to see clients before. It was like walking into elderly people's home. They all had that distinct smell.
Something different about this was the prisoners. Most prisons Harvey had visited had been higher security. The convicts seemed much more relaxed here. Some were smiling briefly, waving at each other. They all seemed more geeky and less muscular than other prisons he had been to before.
All prisoners were wearing the same uniform: light blue khaki button up shirts, same colour pants, short or long sleeve undershirts, a variety of shoes. There were some larger and some smaller men but most of them didn't seem too intimidating to Harvey and it made him feel a little more comfortable. None of these people could hurt Mike badly, surely?
He followed the guard through this room and out into another large room but this time, it was a normal visitation area, the walls plain again like the rest of the prison. Along the side of the corridor were small secretive booth like rooms for attorneys. Harvey was relieved to be guided over to one at the back, further out of sight. The guard opened the door and Harvey took a calming breath before stepping inside.
As he entered he saw Mike was hunched over, hiding or cradling his head in his hands. He was resting on the cold surface almost defeatedly and was obviously caught in a memory, unaware of Harvey's entrance. Harvey had expected to be coming here all guns a blazing to fight for Mike and be invincible for him but the site before him had drained him of all energy.
Instead, he approached from behind Mike and cleared his throat. Mike flinched at the sound and sat up straighter, revealing a cut on his lip and a rather bruised black eye. Harvey couldn't help his outburst.
"Mike. What the hell is going on?" He said, his voice raised. As he said this, his gaze travelled down Mike's body. He was sat awkwardly, nursing his rib area. Harvey was going to lose his shit if he wasn't careful. The whole prison was going to hear his outrage at this.
"Harvey, calm down-" Mike managed to croak.
"Calm down? How am I supposed to be calm when you look that shit?" Harvey was getting more worked up by the minute. If Mike didn't tell him what was going on, he'd make someone else tell him.
"I'm fine." Mike groaned.
"You're not. Who did this to you?"
"Harvey it doesn't matter." Why was Mike being so laid back about this? Harvey was getting pissed off with feeling this helpless. Mike was behind bars, there was nothing he could do to help him. But he couldn't deal with this guilt inside him. It was more punishing than a jail sentence.
"It does. Whoever it is, I'm gonna kick his ass." Harvey rose from his seat, he could feel the anger flowing rapidly through his veins. But he was stopped from rushing out of the room by Mike.
"It was my fault. I was set up." Harvey instantly cooled down. Mike sounded so defeated and he needed to sort it out.
"What's going on?"
"Nothing's going on. I'm in prison." Harvey flinched at Mike's tone, the guilt still weighing him down. He'd almost forgot how annoyingly stubborn Mike could be. He just looked at Mike, unable to speak through the lump in his throat.
"It's none of your business," Mike said defeatedly.
"Well I'm making it my business. Why won't you tell me?" Harvey broke through his guilt now, the anger raging again.
"Because you'd try and handle it for me."
"Well maybe I should be handling it for you. How the hell did you manage to piss someone off on the first day?" Harvey said but was surprised when Mike started laughing. Harvey could sense the sarcasm and looked at him, seriously.
Mike stopped laughing, realising that Harvey was serious. He straightened in the hard metal chair, delaying the moment and putting Harvey's nerve endings in tatters. "I bumped into Frank Gallo this morning and he baited me with a story about Rachel."
Harvey felt his heart start to race not only at the mention of Rachel but also Frank Gallo. This was bad news. He needed to get that asshole away from Mike or at least get Mike away from him.
"Holy shit."
"Harvey, what's going on?" Mike had seen Harvey's face drop and knew the older man didn't overreact unless the situation needed him to.
"What the hell is he doing in here? I put him away for racketeering!"
"I don't know. Last time I checked that didn't land him in here." Mike was looking worked up too now. He was afraid of Gallo's power.
Harvey had fallen silent, deep in thought and Mike made a mental note that he would question him further later. Right now, he had other worries.
"Anyway, that's not why I called you in here. I needed to talk to you."
"About what?"
"Why didn't you answer my call this morning?" Harvey was taken aback by Mike's accusatory tone. This is what he was mostly afraid of. That Mike would become bitter towards him and resent him enough that they would fall out of touch. But Harvey wasn't going to let that happen.
"I had been out late the night before. Got called into the firm to sort it out." Harvey was bullshitting and Mike wasn't convinced.
"Harvey what's going on?"
"What do you mean? I thought you would have heard about the firm struggling. Partners and clients alike left us."
"I don't mean about the firm. I mean about Rachel?" Harvey swallowed. He was really hoping he wouldn't have to lie to Mike but that's what it had come down to.
"She had been upset after you left." Harvey said innocently. But he knew deep down the game was up. He was told not to tell him the truth incase he did something stupid, but Mike had already done something stupid. He deserved to know.
Mike was glaring at Harvey and under the pressure, Harvey caved. He felt awful. He tried to explain softly.
"She was in a car accident last night-"
"What? Is she okay? What happened? What kind of car accident?"
Harvey could already see Mike's face draining of colour and the panic settling in. He reached across and put one hand on the younger man's shoulder. He wished Donna was here. She would know how to handle this situation. She had always had a soft touch for Mike.
But Mike shook of his hand, his panic turning to rage now.
"Mike. listen-"
"Why didn't you tell me?" Mike's voice was piercing through Harvey's mind. He was pissed and Harvey needed to sort this out.
"Mike, calm down. She's fine, Donna is with her. This is why we didn't tell you. Rachel didn't want you to overreact."
"Overreact?" Mike shouted.
"No-"
"What would be a suitable way to react in this situation Harvey?" Mike was fuming now. Harvey could see her was practically shaking with rage.
"I didn't mean it like that." He felt awful and so powerless. He had told the girls this was a bad idea.
"Just get out."
"Mike." Harvey said softly.
"I don't want to see you." Mike would barely even look at him.
Harvey sat for a moment, trying to think of another way. He sighed, dejectedly. "I'm sorry."
