Well, we're at the end! Hope you like it! As I said in chapter 8, I AM going to do an epilogue when I get the opportunity. Please feel free to write me with any questions or suggestions. I do this stuff for you, after all. Enjoy the finale! Thanks to ye wonderfuls who have reviewed and favorited and alerted and all. Special thanks to CazB and lovesreidforever!

When Donna told Harvey he had a meeting with Mike, she had neglected to mention it was at a hamburger dive where anyone not living on the streets would be overdressed. He grimaced in distaste after stepping in an unidentifiable mess on the sidewalk and bent over to inspect his shoe; he considered himself fortunate not to have eaten already.

Mike was waiting inside the "restaurant", which was about the size of a jukebox, and looked even worse dressed than he had been the last time they'd met. He shuffled around nervously in tattered tennis shoes with mismatched laces, running fingers through his messy hair and constantly checking his watch. Harvey rolled his eyes at the image despite the fact that it felt heartwarmingly cute.

He decided to end the kid's fidgeting by making his entrance.

"I'm really hoping this isn't the animal hospital…" he said dramatically.

Mike gave him a look. "Don't be silly. Their secret ingredient here is people."

Harvey allowed the smile to form on his face. Mike seemed to have this annoying habit of making Harvey want to express…well, express.

He gestured to a table that looked somewhat less suspect than the others and Mike nodded. But when Harvey took a seat, he found that Mike had instead approached the counter to speak to the unsavory cook who looked like he belonged in a Great Depression-era hobotown.

After a few minutes of waiting, Mike brought over two surprisingly appetizing-looking burgers.

Mike gave him a curious stare as he brought the burger to his mouth. After tasting it and determining that the cook must have been some sort of deity, Harvey let out a pleased moan while he chewed.

"Best burgers in the city."

Harvey nodded his assent.

They ate in silence, Mike bought them some fries, and then they got down to business. The kid had already sent him the necessary files, and Harvey had, of course, already figured out how to win the case, started securing a settlement, and shown the case off to Jessica as a voluntary pro bono. The meeting was really more a show than an actual necessity, but Harvey had been looking forward to it all week.

He was busy telling Mike how they were going to crush the opposition, when he noticed Mike was shifting uncomfortably. What now?he thought.

"Is there a problem?"

Mike shook his head, failing to convince Harvey that nothing was going on, so Harvey gave him a glare. Press until it hurts…he'd never really seen himself using that philosophy in this sort of situation, though.

"It's hot in here…"

"So take off your jacket. It's disgustingly hideous, anyway."

"I…I can't."

Harvey raised an eyebrow.

Mike heaved a defeated sigh and tore his jacket off. Immediately Harvey understood why he'd been reluctant before. Mike was wearing a dark blue T-shirt that boasted Ask Me About My Psychic Powers!in hot pink. The cat hair covering it wasn't a great addition either.

He couldn't help it. He laughed.

"Oh my god, did you just laugh?" Mike asked in wonder.

"I laugh," Harvey defended.

"Not at clothing affronts."

"I could have been laughing at the idea that you actually believe you have psychic powers," he deflected.

"True, although, technically, this shirt doesn't say I believe in them or that I have them, just that you should ask me about them."

"By stating that they're yours, you're suggesting that you do have them. So really, you're committing multiple accounts of fraud."

"Ah, but can you prove that that was my intent? Or can you prove that I don't have psychic powers?"

"I'd say there's a sizable amount of reasonable doubt, yes. You'd definitely lose in court."

Mike snorted. "Are you trying to buy me out?"

"That depends. Are you willing to settle?"

"No."

Harvey gazed at him in surprise. It would be a loss for him if he tried to go court, but the kid had guts at least. Of course, the fact that none of this was at all real may have influenced Mike's decision, but Harvey preferred to think the best of the kid. Another new and surprising ability he now harbored.

"You know you'd lose in court."

"Maybe, if I couldn't prove I was psychic. Then it'd be difficult." Mike was smirking now.

"Oh? Are you suggesting that your so-called abilities can be proven?"

"Not necessarily."

"Explain."

Mike leaned back in his chair, a fry twisting idly between his thumb and forefinger. "Well, you've seen it first hand."

Harvey scoffed. "You mean that first day we met, when you 'spoke' to Mr. Whi—Stuart? I'd hardly call that proof."

"Okay, what about with Oscar?"

"All that I recall of that incident is that I ended up with a dog. Thanks for that, by the way."

"Sure!"

"Glad to see you understand the concept of sarcasm."

Mike smiled at him, a mischievous glint in his eyes. " 'Mocking, contemptuous, or ironic language intended to convey scorn or insult.' "

"You clearly missed the concept of rhetorical questions, as well."

"Ha ha. Okay, what about at the zoo?"

"What about it?"

"Well, with Makena."

"Who?"

"The tiger…" Mike seemed slightly angry at that. Harvey had almost forgotten about the tiger incident. After all, that was the day everything with Mike had started to go wrong. And then there was his poor Star Trek collection…

Harvey shook off the error. He didn't want to upset the kid, and clearly his lack of respect for the tiger had insulted Mike's sensibilities somehow. "Right. Well, that was a little more impressive, I agree, but still in no way sturdy enough to hold up in court."

"But I don't need it to hold up perfectly. All I need to do is present the possibility that it could have been possible," he said confidently.

"Because that always works."

"Okay, so disprove it, then."

Harvey blinked. Oh, this kid was brilliant. He'd successfully gotten Harvey to focus on the definite impossible task, leading him in circles until he'd fallen into his own trap. It was something Harvey would have done, and he'd let Mike smooth-talk him into it.

He leaned over the table. "How did you know about that precedent case last Friday?"

Mike shrugged. He seemed uncomfortable somehow, but as to the reason why, Harvey was at a loss. "I like to read."

"You like to read law books? Obscure ones at that," Harvey said, disbelieving. Friday, after Mike had left, his first conclusion was that Donna had somehow organized it that so Mike could seem impressive. But aside from any additional flaws in that explanation, Donna denied any involvement whatsoever. Harvey was still baffled.

Mike fidgeted. "When I was a kid, my dream was to become a lawyer. But…"

"But?" Harvey pushed him on.

Mike was frowning now. He looked like he was regretting adding that conjunction.

"Nothing. I made some bad choices, let myself be used by bad people." He took a deep breath, as if this was physically exhausting for him. "I got kicked out of college and did some bad stuff for a while."

"And then you met Donna," Harvey finished for him. He wondered what Donna had first seen in him, to have made an effort to befriend this kid.

"Yeah. She told me I was wasting my potential. I've never really had anyone to give me good advice before, except for my gram. Donna made sure I found something that utilized my…skill set."

Harvey nodded. "That still doesn't explain your knowledge of obscure legal cases."

"I found some law books in the library. Nothing much more to it than that."

"And you decided it would make nice light reading?"

"Well, I studied them. One of the bad things I did before Donna. I'd help people pass their LSATs." Meaning he cheated. Harvey read that one loud and clear. The fact that Mike had told him that showed promise; it meant he was starting to trust Harvey.

"And what made you decide that being a fake pet psychic was the right use of your talents?"

Mike gave a harsh laugh, though it wasn't bitter so much as it was amused. "Donna. She found out what I could do and, well… a couple years later I was helping this rich jerk get along with his cat."

Harvey chuckled. "First, I'm insulted that you couldn't come up with a more elegant insult, and as such, will be suing you for defamation of character. And second, you never denied that you were a fake."

"I didn't confirm it either."

A sudden thought occurred to Harvey, regarding Mike's purported abilities and a past incident. "Wait. The zoo. Donna was upset when she thought I'd brought you there. Why would that be?"

Mike looked suspicious. "Why would she think you'd take me anywhere?"

"Answer the question," he said harshly, hoping Mike wouldn't press on that thought any further.

"Well," he said, temporarily distracted by Harvey's forceful tone. "It's kind of hard for me at any place where animals are congregated. They all try to talk at once, not even to me. It kind of feels like a radio that's on too loud, but someone keeps upping the volume until you feel like your head's going to explode."

"But we live in a city surrounded by rats and pigeons and cockroaches. Flawed logic is hurting your case, you know."

"But it's different with them. Rats are quiet. They don't talk much. Sometimes you can hear them whispering about schematics. Pigeons are only loud in proximity. You can tune them out easily because they're so single-minded. And for some reason I can't hear cockroaches. I don't know if it's 'cause they're bugs, but some animals I can't hear at all. Like humans.

"And at the zoo, it's worse, because I'm used to the city animals, but zoo animals are all foreign. They think and speak differently. And they all seem able to sense me somehow, so whenever I come in they all shout at me like they're vying for my attention."

Harvey sat silently as he listened to Mike further explain his "powers". If the kid really could hear animals' thoughts, then it must be pretty rough. According to him, he couldn't turn the ability off, so his head was never quiet. But despite the kid telling him all of this, he still felt like Mike was hiding something.

"Harvey?"

"What?" He snapped his eyes back to Mike's, realizing he must have zoned out. It didn't look like it had been the first time Mike had tried to grab his attention.

"I'm just wondering. Why do you want to know all of this stuff about me? It's pretty obvious you don't believe me about ninety-nine percent of it. And you could have solved this case without talking to me here. I mean, I assume it's just because Donna asked you to, but still. It seems…uncharacteristic of you."

Harvey sighed. The moment had come. Well, Harvey wasn't afraid of speaking his sentiments, but this time around he found himself caring decidedly more than was usual about how they'd be received.

"No, Donna has nothing to do with it aside from getting a good laugh out of it."

"Huh?"

"I'm attracted to you," Harvey said matter-of-factly. Normally he'd play his little games of banter and seduction, but this felt right for Mike.

Mike stared at him for a beat and proceeded to nearly fall off his chair in a fit of laughter. Harvey had no idea how he should interpret this.

"No." Mike was laughing so hard that tears were leaking from his eyes and his breath was wheezy. Harvey at first thought he'd imagined the word that escaped Mike's lips. A rejection. Well, he'd tried, and now maybe he could finally forget about the adorably sexy idiotic genius that was Mike.

"No way!" Apparently Mike wasn't done yet, though. Harvey felt a sliver of hope rise in his chest.

"I'm glad you find this so entertaining." Wry humor had always served well in the past.

Mike was flailing an arm at him as he attempted to calm down. After another minute he was again capable of speech. "Since when?"

Harvey shrugged. "Well, physically, I'd say it was when you first came over to my place and I saw your ass sticking up from behind my couch after I'd gone to get you band aids. But if you meant in other capacities, I'd guess sometime around you flipping over your handlebars at our second meeting through landing on you in my apartment and destroying my one of a kind Star Trek Original Series box set."

Mike's face had turned bright red at the mention of his ass and had proceeded to grow to an almost radioactive pink by the time Harvey was done.

"Well?" Harvey asked after Mike continued to blush and remain silent.

Mike coughed and attempted to stall by stuffing the remaining French fries into his mouth.

Harvey rolled his eyes. "Do you find me attractive?"

Mike choked. Harvey reached round to give him a hard pat on the back.

"I'll take that as a yes. I thought it only polite to ask, though, honestly, who wouldn't find me attractive?"

Mike started to laugh again.

"Yes. Yes, I think you're…attractive. But…"

"I really think you should stop ending your sentences like that."

"But—"

"You don't like me in return. Well, I didn't think so. Not after what you said after the zoo, and certainly not after what happened in my apartment. Oh well."

Mike hung his mouth open in incredulity. "I was delirious! I don't even remember that! And I knew what happened at your place was just an accident."

"Why'd you leave so fast, then?" Harvey said skeptically.

Mike appeared to find Harvey's question to be dumb. "Did you not see the gossipy know-it-all redhead standing in your doorway looking like she wished she'd brought more than just the hidden camera in her purse?"

Harvey had to admit that did make much more sense than any of his own explanations.

"So…you do like me."

"Well…"

Harvey glared at him.

"Okay, well, I don't know, sorry! I don't hate you anymore. I stopped that after you saved Oscar. And then you let me help Makena, and you're helping the animal hospital. So I definitely like you as a human being despite your stunted emotions and narcissism."

"I'll take it," Harvey interrupted.

"And low standards," Mike added.

"Do you want to go to dinner with me or not?"

Mike paused. "Hell yeah. You're paying."

"Like you have any money."

"Maybe I would if you ever paid me."

"I don't have to pay if I'm dating you. It's a rule."

"Cheapskate," Mike muttered as they stood to leave.

"You took me to a dumpster for lunch," Harvey said, pointing at the coffin-sized building of the burger joint they'd emerged from.

"And it was the best burger of your life."

"Well it was certainly the most diseased."

"There's just no pleasing you, is there?"

"Oh trust me, kid. There are plenty of ways to do just that."

"I'm so telling Donna you said that."

"Don't you dare."

Mike chuckled as they headed back to Harvey's apartment. Donna could cover for him for the rest of the day.

The End