Hello! This fic is inspired by an idea I got from MyLifeInTwo on AO3 (I post my fics there too under the name "MarvelousMoose"). They said it would be fun to see an outing with the team to an amusement park where Mike gets sick from a rollercoaster and I agree! So, this fic was born. If anyone else has any ideas they'd like to see, don't hesitate to let me know! To those who have requested something both on here and AO3, I promise I will get to all of them! Now, on to the fic. Enjoy!
Mike walked out of the bullpen and down the hall towards Harvey's office. He had received a text from Harvey with only three words: My office. Now.
With most, that kind of text might elicit fear or worry, but Mike knew Harvey and that was just how he texted. The text could mean he simply wanted Mike to give him a case or it could mean he was about to chew him out for something. With Harvey, you never knew, but Mike always tried to go in with the positive option in mind.
"Good Mike, you're here," Harvey greeted, and Mike saw that his boss wasn't alone. Standing next to Harvey was an older man, most likely in his early sixties, with a balding head and sporting an expensive gray suit. That usually meant he came from money and since Mike didn't know him from any companies, he figured this was a potentially new client for Harvey, someone that was here to invest.
As Mike joined the party standing by the window, Harvey introduced him. "Mike, this is Mr. Peterson. Mr. Peterson, this is my associate that I was talking about."
Mike stuck his hand out for a handshake, not surprised as the firm grip Mr. Peterson had.
"Ah, so this is the young prodigy I've heard all about." Mr. Peterson said with a warm smile. And even though Mike barely knew him, he already liked him. He gave off a friendly grandfather vibe, someone that you could just sit and talk with and learn a lot while doing so.
Mike shot Harvey a questioning look. "Harvey's talked about me?"
Mr. Peterson laughed. "Well, as much as Harvey does. If he mentions your name in conversation that's usually a sign to me that you're special in his eyes."
Mike smirked as he kept his eyes on Harvey. So, you do care about me.
Harvey just rolled his eyes, narrowing his lips into a tight line. Mike could practically hear his response in his mind. Yeah, just keep telling yourself that, kid.
Mike turned back to Mr. Peterson. "So, you and Harvey know each other then?"
"Oh, yes. I've known Harvey for a long time. I was a friend of his dads back in the day."
Harvey smiled, a rare smile that Mike only saw when he talked about his father. "Mr. Peterson is investing in Luna Park at Coney Island. The owner decided to sell, and Mr. Peterson can never turn down an opportunity."
Mike blinked. Luna Park must be worth a fortune. That meant that Mr. Peterson had a lot of money.
"Please Harvey, call me Steve. Mr. Peterson is too formal. And yes, it's true. While I do like to invest where I see there's money to be made, this time it also happens to be more personal. My wife, Lauren, has loved Luna Park her whole life and so when I saw it go up for sale, I decided to buy it for her birthday. And while I have a lawyer already, this investment is extra special, so I wanted Harvey to handle it personally."
Mike smiled, touched at the gesture. This man was dropping who knew how much money just to invest in something his wife loved.
"I appreciate you coming to me Steve. I promise that I will oversee every step of your purchase and make sure the contract is solid before you sign."
Steve nodded and shook Harvey's hand before walking toward the door. Just before he walked through, he stopped and turned. "Oh, I almost forgot. I'm going to have a grand opening once this contract goes through to show that Luna Park is under new ownership, plus I'm going to be adding a ride named after my wife. I'd love it if you two and some other members of your firm could come."
Harvey smiled. "Of course. We'll be there."
As soon as Steve was down the hall, Mike turned to Harvey with a grin on his face. "We're going on a field trip to an amusement park. And we get to call it business? That is so cool!"
Harvey, not joining in Mike's celebration, sat at his desk, presumably to get started on the contract.
"I see you'll fit right in with all the other five-year-olds."
"Oh, come on, Harvey. It'll be fun! I've never been to Coney Island before."
Harvey's head shot up at the confession. "You've never been to Coney Island?"
Mike shook his head. "My parents never found the time to take me before the accident and Grammy is too old for that sort of thing."
Harvey stared at him for a second before his face softened. "I should have thought about that. Be as excited as you like, kid."
Mike grinned again. "Let me know as soon as that contract is done, I'll deliver it myself if I have to. Coney Island here we come!"
Harvey shook his head in exasperation, but Mike saw the small smile that crept onto his face.
As Mike walked back down the hall to the bullpen, his steps had a spring that wasn't in them before. He wasn't sure why the idea of going to the theme park was so exciting, maybe it was the kid in him coming out as he finally got to do the thing he had always wanted to do growing up, but Mike knew one thing for sure: This trip was going to be the best day at the office ever.
One week later, the contract had been signed and the grand re-opening of Luna Park had arrived. Mike, Harvey, Donna, Rachel, and a few other partners and their families that had wanted to come had all arrived before the park opened to get their front row seats in the stadium, where Steve was going to give a speech to the public, and to collect their fast lane passes so they could all ride the rides after the ceremony was done.
As soon as the gates opened, the public flooded in. It seemed like everyone was excited for the new owner, and probably for the fact that Steve had made kids 12 and under free for today, so the seats all around them filled quickly.
To his credit, Steve kept the speech short. He introduced himself and his family, unveiled the new ride he was building, Lauren's Lunar Launch, named after his wife (a space themed ride that launched you up into the sky and dangled you there before dropping you at a random moment) before he talked about other small changes he was making. Finally, he dismissed the crowd, and everyone filed out, ready to have fun.
Mike, Harvey, Donna, and Rachel all headed toward the rides as a group. To Mike's surprise, even Harvey was up to riding the roller coasters. Apparently, Harvey had come here with his brother a lot growing up and had become fond of the rides.
Mike was nervous as they stood in their first line, Tony's Express, as it was a fast coaster, but he found that once the ride was done, that it was actually a lot of fun. The exhilaration of the coaster as it sped down the track, the feeling of weightlessness before it dropped, was all an adrenaline rush that had Mike almost begging for more.
One thing that was weird, however, was sitting next to Harvey on rides. All of them were dressed casually, blending in with everyone else at the park, and seeing Harvey's wind-swept hair and smiles as the rides ended was jarring. He had never seen his boss have fun before. But as the day went on, Mike found himself relaxing and enjoying the fact that he was out of the office and spending some time actually having fun with Harvey and the rest of their group. It was refreshing, a much-needed change of pace from the seriousness they dealt with on a daily basis. It also suited Harvey; while his boss was great at his job, great at playing the serious "no caring" role of "the greater closer in New York", seeing him be able to relax and come out of that shell was really nice. It even made him seem younger, the smiles bringing out the brightness in his eyes and softening his features- not that Mike would ever tell Harvey any of that.
For the next two hours, the group went from ride to ride, having fun and, for once, not talking about work. It was only when they made the decision to have lunch that everything changed.
They chose one of the in-park restaurants and while the food was delicious, it was heavy and greasy, as all park food was. Mike would have thought that they would have taken a breather, let their stomachs digest everything they had eaten, but as soon as they were done, Rachel and Donna were charging back into the crowd, pulling both Mike and Harvey along. Harvey didn't seem to mind either, just smiled as he let Donna drag him toward the next ride.
The first few rides were okay. They were relatively gentle, and didn't seem to affect Mike much, but the last ride had had a lot of spins and as they exited, Mike was dizzy and could feel his stomach start to protest from so much moving while it tried to digest his lunch. He wanted to say something, to tell Harvey that he would sit out the next few rides until his stomach settled, but before he could say anything, he was dragged into another line, and he lost the courage to speak up.
Unfortunately for Mike, the next ride they had chosen was the Thunderbolt. It was one of the fastest rides there, with a huge drop and lots of twists and turns. There was no time to back out either. With their fast passes, they were quickly ushered onto the ride and strapped in.
Panic rose in Mike as the roller coaster climbed. He knew this was going to be bad. As expected, as the ride dropped, Mike's stomach rose into his throat and not in the ride-inducing fun way. No, this was Mike's stomach telling him that he needed to stop soon, or things would get messy.
He was determined not to get sick on the ride, however, not only for the fact that it would be mortifying, but also the fact that Harvey was right next to him and if he puked on his boss, he didn't think he would ever recover.
So, Mike clenched his jaw shut so hard that his teeth groaned and spent the next two minutes focusing on breathing. Somehow, luck seemed to be on his side, as the ride finally halted to a stop and the restraints lifted. Mike, still feeling extremely sick and knowing that there was most likely nothing he could do to stop it, lagged behind the group as they exited the ride and walked down the stairs.
It was only when they had walked halfway down the path back to the main stretch that connected all the rides that Mike stopped and put a hand on a nearby tree, hunched over slightly as he desperately sucked down air, silently pleading for his stomach to settle. Harvey seemed to finally notice that Mike wasn't next to him as Mike saw him turn, head swiveling until he spotted the associate before he walked back down the path.
"Hey, Mike, you okay?" Harvey said, placing a hand on Mike's back and angling his head to look at Mike's face.
Mike could only shake his head, tightening his grip on the rough bark of the tree trunk. He was afraid of what would happen if he opened his mouth to respond.
Harvey seemed to realize the predicament Mike was in because he said, "Wait here, I'm going to tell Donna and Rachel to head to the next ride without us."
Mike, still focused on breathing, must have zoned out because it felt like only a second before Harvey was back by his side, pulling him away from the tree and leading him down the path.
"I'd ask if you were going to be sick, but from the look on your face and the green pallor you're sporting, I think I already know the answer."
Mike would have chuckled if he could have, but the urge to gag was so strong that he could focus on nothing else but keeping his mouth clenched.
Suddenly, a garbage can appeared in front of Mike, and he gripped the sides of the rim so tightly his knuckles went white, still breathing heavily as he swallowed hard. He took a moment to survey where Harvey had brought him and was surprised to see that they were in a mostly private alcove, just off the path of the ride, where people could wait for riders to exit or simply take a break in the shade. Mike was happy to see that it was empty. It was bad enough this was happening in front of Harvey; he didn't need an audience of strangers as well.
Mike felt Harvey place his hand on his back again. "Easy," Harvey said quietly, rubbing circles on his back, "don't fight it, Mike. If you're going to throw up, you throw up, no point in making yourself more miserable."
Mike groaned as he gripped the garbage can tighter, fingers aching as they dug into the cold metal. "You don't need to be here for this," he ground out, barely opening his mouth to speak.
Harvey just continued to rub circles on his back. "I'm not leaving my sick associate by himself. Just don't mind me; let your body do what it needs to do Mike."
Mike, still fighting with everything he had, ultimately heeded to Harvey's advice as his body did what it wanted. The smell of the garbage can wasn't helping and when he went to tell Harvey to leave a second time, his body gagged instead. It was like that was the key to his undoing. As soon as he gagged, his body acted and gagged again, this time ending in a heave that had him throwing up a small wave.
"That's it kid, it's okay. You'll feel better after this," Harvey soothed, uncharacteristically soft as he continued to rub Mike's back. The feeling of Harvey's hand helped keep Mike grounded and reminded him of all the times his parents had done that when he was sick. It helped relax him and as soon as he relaxed, his stomach took advantage of it and heaved again.
This time, the heave had vomit pouring out of his mouth, choking him as some of it came out of his nose. All that he had eaten for lunch was making a reappearance, wave after wave, as his stomach clenched endlessly.
Harvey, one hand still on his back, had actually moved to grip Mike's chest with his other hand at some point as Mike was vomiting so hard, he was half crumpled over the garbage.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, Mike's stomach settled and with only a few more heaves, his body finally empty, he was able to relax, feeling sore but so much better than before.
Harvey, seeing that Mike was done, helped drag him over to a bench before handing him the water he had bought earlier to drink.
Mike unscrewed the cap and drank a mouthful, swishing it around before turning to the side and spitting the water on the ground.
He coughed a few times before placing the bottle on the ground before he leaned forward and placed his face in his hands, arms resting on his knees.
While he felt way better than before, the nausea completely gone, embarrassment was now able to creep in, heat rising in his cheeks. The fact that he had done all of that in front of Harvey was too embarrassing to comprehend.
Harvey sat next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You okay? Do you still feel sick?"
"No," Mike mumbles, the answer muffled by the hands still in front of his face.
Harvey's hand remained on his shoulder. "Then what's wrong?"
Mike took a deep breath before uncovering his face and looking reluctantly at his boss. Harvey, to his credit, didn't look disgusted or mocking. All Mike could see was genuine concern.
"Come on, Harvey. That was like the most embarrassing thing I could have done while at a theme park."
Harvey rolled his eyes, raising an eyebrow at Mike. "You think you're the only one to puke here today?"
"No," Mike said, running a frustrated hand through his hair, "but it's still embarrassing. I didn't want to be one of those people and I definitely didn't want to do it in front of you."
"Well, you were fine on the rides earlier, so I'm assuming it's the fact that we ate that did you in. There's no shame in that, even if it was just because of the rides. I'm not going to mock you for being sick- no one will. Shit happens."
Mike sighed but felt a bit better at Harvey's words. "Thanks Harvey."
"Don't mention it. Now, do you feel okay enough to walk back to the car?"
"You don't have to leave because of me, Harvey. I'm fine. I can get a cab."
"It's fine Mike. I have some work I need to get done at the office anyway. Care to join me?"
Mike knew that Harvey was trying to brush off what had just happened for Mike's sake, give them something to do instead, and he was grateful for it.
"I never thought I'd be happy to work, but yes, I would love to sit and do some normal paperwork at the office right now. But what about Donna and Rachel?"
Harvey chuckled and they both stood and started the walk to the park's exit. "They already said they'd take a cab. I told them you weren't feeling well and that we'd most likely be leaving."
"Always one step ahead, aren't you?"
"You're damn right I am. You don't get to be the best closer in New York by being behind the ball."
Mike gave Harvey a playful shove, getting a grin in return, before they walked out of the park and back to the car, back to normal office life, where Mike was going to take some time before he thought about getting on a ride again and definitely before he agreed to go on the next office field trip.
If I was Mike, I would have died on the spot. Throwing up in front of people is like my worst fear. But writing it so it happens to someone else? Pure fun hahaha. Poor Mike...