A/N: Donna and Harvey were a pretty slow burn, why not make it even slower? I've never really written a fanfiction, but I just finished Suits and thought I would give it a try! Hope you enjoy!

CORNERED

1.

"Louis, it is one o'clock in the morning, isn't this something that can wait until tomorrow?" Donna interrupted, as he gave her a play-by-play of his strategy for court tomorrow. In actuality, she had stayed late by choice, one that was entirely unrelated to Louis.

"Are you kidding? Of course this is something that can wait until tomorrow,. I'm only here because you're here. Can we leave already?" Louis strung his words together rapidly, as if he had to get them all out in one breath. Louis turned sharply and speed-walked out of her office. Donna snickered at his typical behavior but felt a pang of guilt that he'd lost sleep for her.

Truth be told, Donna had seen Harvey round the corner to the elevator thirty-four seconds ago, the average time it takes for an elevator to arrive on the fiftieth floor. At least that's what Mike had told her last week, after he had used it in a power play to finish his theatric exit speech just as the elevator doors were closing. She could now finally leave the office in peace, knowing there would be no uncomfortable run-in with Harvey.

Unfortunately, when Donna neared the elevator, Harvey was right there, with one hand in his pocket and the other holding his cell phone up to his ear. His eyes crinkled as he spoke about the lavish steakhouse he just couldn't wait for Paula to see. Screw Mike and his power plays.

Harvey barely glanced in her direction as she pressed the down arrow that he must have forgotten to press. Too busy flaunting his phone sex with his ex-therapist. Ever since she had kissed him, Paula had been everywhere. On the other end of the phone, stopping by the office, setting up dates in his calendar. It had never been like this with Scottie. Donna considered the two possibilities: she was hyper-aware of their relationship due to her overwhelming disdain for it, or Paula was marking her territory after the kiss. She had to assume Harvey had told Paula about the kiss. There was no other rational reason why Harvey would be so resentful towards her. Paula must have ripped him to shreds.

The elevator doors opened, and Donna followed Harvey inside. He was spinning his wallet around with his fingertips, probably to keep his hands busy after he'd hung up the phone. Donna's eyes were burning a hole in the elevator doors that were closing in front of her, careful not to venture off to sneak a peek at him. She knew he would be able to sense it and take it as a sign of weakness.

Donna must have summoned the energy of the gods while trying to burn that whole, because the elevator jolted to a stop, and the lights went out.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Donna exclaimed, as Harvey muttered a measly "goddamn it" under his breath. He made a break for the wall and repeatedly pressed the emergency button. The great elevator technician came to their rescue to let them know that someone would be there to help them... by morning. They could only pray the power would come back on sooner.

"Louis is still at the office, we can just call him, and he'll figure out what to do," she reasoned, pulling her phone out of her purse. No service, go figure. She sighed and turned on her cell phone's flashlight.

"Do you have service?" Donna asked him, still clicking away at her phone to avoid his eyes. "Mine isn't working in the elevator."

"What makes you think mine will?" Harvey snapped. These were the first words he'd spoken to her all day. She was only slightly taken aback by his tone, as she was slowly getting accustomed to his nasty attitude.

"It's worth a shot," she reasoned, ignoring his tone.

Harvey pulled out his phone and gave it a weak tap. "Battery's dead," he said simply. Donna clenched her jaw and tried to stop her anger from boiling over. He failed.

"Right, you must have drained it on the phone with your girlfriend. Was this a Telehealth appointment?" Donna asked boldly. It was a low blow, and arguably unprompted. She was just tired of his avoidant behavior and would much prefer confrontation over two-word answers.

Harvey's expression was dark. "She hasn't seen me as a patient in over a year." Donna wanted to scream. He was playing this like another one of his cases. He knew the general rule: therapists shouldn't date their patients, and he found the loophole, just like he would for a case.

"Don't you see the power dynamic that's playing out? You may think you're in charge because you take her to a five-star steakhouse and buy her a six hundred dollar bottle of Cabernet, but she knew every intimate detail about your life before you could even spout one fun fact about hers."

"Donna, you may not want to believe it, but I pursued her. She didn't cross any lines, she didn't use m mental state to take advantage of me, she just fell back and let me swoop her off her feet," he explained slowly, emphasizing each phrase in his patronizing tone. Donna flinched slightly at his poetic word choice, but held eye contact. She wished she could calmly explain to him that there was a reason that engaging in a romantic relationship with a client is an ethical violation, and that reason doesn't magically disappear after a year. Even if she could, he wouldn't listen. No one could have convinced nineteen year old Donna of the power imbalance between a young aspiring actress and her thirty-eight year old director. Harvey would be furious if she used her anecdote, but she found the two situations comparable. He wouldn't accept any theory that might victimize him.

"Did she have feelings for you while you were her patient?" Donna questioned.

Harvey was silent for a few beats. "Maybe a fantasy or two," he answered with a smirk. She genuinely couldn't gauge whether he was trying to lighten the mood or just being smug. Either way, he seemed pleased with himself.

Donna tilted her head and gave him a look, which prompted him to continue his defense. "It wasn't as if she spent our sessions discussing my love life. She was the one who helped me realize none of it was about you in the first place, it was about my mom." Her heart skipped a beat at the implication that she was part of his love life. Harvey immediately broke eye contact and focused his attention on the metal bar on the wall.

She was surprised he referenced his mother so casually. There was a fleeting moment where she wondered if Paula had actually helped him process his complicated history with his mother, but it quickly faded when she decided he was probably only able to do so because he was emotional.

Donna watched Harvey glance at the floor, probably debating sitting down. He didn't. She knew him, he couldn't sit down before she did. Screw the power dynamic between him and his therapist girlfriend, what about the power dynamic between him and herself? Even with her new position in the firm, maybe she was destined to play the lowly secretary to the hotshot lawyer. She succumbed to her fate, taking a seat against the the back wall and pulling her knees up to her chest, feeling weak. Harvey followed suit and sat down across from her. She laid her phone face down on the floor, the flash light still shining. The way the flash light illuminated his face from below did nothing to alleviate her discomfort.

There was silence in the elevator for upwards of ten minutes. Or thirty seconds, Donna had no frame of reference other than the feeling of unease that was growing exponentially,

Harvey broke the ice. "Did Louis walk down fifty flights of stairs, or is he sleeping in the office?" he wondered aloud, assuming a building-wide power outage. He was most certainly using humor to deflect from his half-revelation, but she appreciated the change in subject.

Donna gave a small laugh. "I bet he's curled up on the couch in your office."

Harvey gave her a playful look of disgust. "In his suit?" he questioned.

"Unless he keeps a spare pair of pajamas in his drawers, I'd prefer not to picture him in anything else," Donna responded.

"You mean you'd prefer not to picture him in anything."

"It's your couch," she quipped, to which Harvey let out a groan.

The silence returned. Donna picked at her nail polish, each blue flake snowing onto her white dress. She checked her phone for service again. Harvey was playing with his watch, sliding it up and down his wrist.

Donna always got a kick out of her little back-and-forths with Harvey, but she began to wonder if they could continue. Something about this conversation felt final, like at the end of the movie when the two main characters reference some old joke before going their separate ways. She felt sick to her stomach.

"What about me?" she finally asked. The question was broad, and she left it open for Harvey to interpret it as he pleased. What she really meant was 'Is there room in your life for both of us?'

Harvey looked up at her in surprise. His expression slowly morphed into a darker one as he narrowed his eyes. Of course, he didn't possess the ability to psychoanalyze her every move, like she had for him. She supposed she couldn't fault him for it. Then again, she didn't expect him to be in an entirely different ballpark.

"I know you have this need for every woman to feel threatened by you, but Paula isn't," he stated plainly. Boy, was that a vast misunderstanding of her personality. Donna loved to intimidate everyone, not just women. In fact, she would argue that she preferred to intimidate men who expected every women to bow at her feet.

Harvey was still talking. "She's confident in our relationship, and she's confident in herself. I know that our dynamic has come up in relationships in the past, but I'd say that was more a reflection of them than it was of me. And frankly, our 'dynamic' ceased to exist after you ruined everything with that kiss." He was so adamant that the kiss hadn't put a strain on his relationship with Paula. She didn't take him for a liar, which only left one possibility.

"Fine, I'll bite. If she's so confident in your relationship, how did the kiss, quote unquote 'ruin everything?' You didn't kiss me back, you have nothing to apologize for. Unless of course, you didn't tell her, in which case, I'd say there's something more going on here."

"And what is that? My secretary has been obsessed with me for twelve years, and I pity her for - " Harvey was cut off by a jolt in the elevator and the lights coming back on. He never finished his sentence. She could see his face clearly now, with the harsh white lights. Guilt was evident in his expression. His gaze was softer, less piercing. If an apology was coming, she wasn't staying to hear it.

When the doors opened, Donna exited the elevator without so much as a glance. She could no longer sense his presence next to her, so she knew he'd stayed behind.

Donna left the building feeling more vulnerable and exposed than she'd felt right after she kissed him.