Note: You didn't think that I'd leave Mike and Rachel out of this twin fest, did you? Also I'm sorry in advance about...well. You'll know when you get to the end of this chapter.

Runs and hides...


The next afternoon, Rachel tried to blend in with the other parents and nannies who frequented the prep school pick up gate, but it was hard as she shivered from the cool, damp air. As red, orange, and brown leaves spun around the brick lined courtyard, they fell into wet, broken clumps, across the ground.

As much as she rooted for her boss's success, she secretly hoped that Donna's play wouldn't last beyond the initial six month run. New York was nothing like Los Angeles. She couldn't see herself making a home there.

"Sammy, no!" she yelled, as her dog, a spunky West Highland White Terrier, launched himself into the air to attack the falling leaves. "You're gonna throw up again." Rachel shortened the leash until Sammy came running back.

The other adults stared at her, she could feel it, but she ignored their judgemental gazes. She missed Anna's school back home. The small, laid back atmosphere of Ardsley Academy was a world away from the large, imposing Walden School for Girls.

Usually Anna was one of the last girls out of school, but today she was one of the first. Rachel was relieved that she didn't have to wait too long.

"Anna! Over here!" She called out, but the girl didn't see her. It took Rachel calling her name a few times to get noticed.

Finally, Anna bounded over and pointed to the other end of the courtyard.

"I thought you'd be over there."

"It's too wet over there." Rachel pulled on her dog's leash and ushered Anna out of the crowd. "Let's get going." Sammy, however, had other ideas. Instead of greeting the girl like he normally would, he growled and then let out a series of high pitched barks. Anna screamed, which only made the dog bark louder.

"That's Anna," scolded Rachel. "What's wrong with you?" Rachel had adopted Sammy as a puppy 5 years ago. Since then, Sammy had been Anna's biggest protector. "I don't know what's gotten into him."

"Maybe he forgot about me."

"In one day?" Rachel huffed in annoyance. "He's normally so well behaved." In one swoop, she picked up the dog and then hurried Anna towards the sidewalk, where a row of fancy cars waited. "Your mom wants me to drop you off at the theater."

"She does?"

"It's Thursday. You know rehearsals run late on Thursdays." Eager to get out of the cold, Rachel picked up the pace. She would have to invest in a warmer jacket for winter. Anna fell in step right beside her.

"Oh yeah. I…forgot."

Rachel's brows furrowed in confusion. "You forgot your favorite part of the week?" Anna loved the theater. Exploring the backstage areas, including the old basement full of props, was normally the highlight of her week.

"I, um, I thought it was Wednesday," Anna said.

Coming to a stop at a red light, Rachel looked down at the girl. Nothing looked out of place, but something was off. She just couldn't figure out what. "Are you okay, sweetie?"

Anna met her eyes. The sunlight brought out the freckles that dotted her nose and cheeks. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know Ann, there's just something different about you today. Are you sure you're feeling okay?" Rachel moved to place her hand on Anna's forehead, but before she could, the girl pulled away with a glare.

"I'm the same old me," she insisted. "The same old Anna."

"Okayyyyy…." Rachel trailed off, in complete confusion. Something was going on, but she knew better than to force the pre-teen into explaining what it was. Silently, she reminded herself to discuss it with Donna. Donna was always good at figuring things out. For now, all she could do was let it go.


Mike shifted uncomfortably in the back of Harvey's town car. He had a lot of work to do back at the office, and it was hard to stay patient as he waited for Lizzie to get out of school. It was rare that Harvey ever let his personal life bleed into work, but lately he had been including Mike more and more into his inner private life. It was unexpected, but not unwelcome.

Dozens of kids and parents were walking by the car. From behind the tinted glass, Mike watched each one, hoping that it would be Lizzie. Harvey has assured him that his daughter was always the first one out of the building, but that wasn't the case today.

Mike sat up straight. For a split second, he thought that he saw her from a distance. But he was disappointed when the girl walked in the opposite direction. She was with a young, dark haired woman who held a dog in her arms. "I should have waited out there instead," he grumbled, as he lost sight of the beautiful woman.

"Come on Harvey, where's your damn kid?" He still had trouble wrapping his mind around the fact that his hard ass boss had a daughter. He had met Lizzie at least a dozen times and each time, he was amused that she was nothing like her father.

Just when Mike was about to get out of the car to find her, the door opened and he came face to face with Lizzie, whose eyes widened in shock.

"Sorry, I think I have the wrong car," she blurted.

She was fast, but Mike was faster. He held onto the door so that she couldn't shut it. "Lizzie, what are you doing?"

The girl narrowed her eyes. "Who are you?"

Mike blew out a puff of air. There was a huge pile of paperwork waiting for him back at the office. He didn't have time to play games. "Come on, Lizzie. Get in the car. Your dad's hung up at court. He sent me to get you."

Lizzie glanced towards the front. The partition that separated the front of the car from the back of the car was down, giving her a clear view of the balding driver. "That's not Ray."

"No, that's Jake. Ray's off today."

"I'm not getting in there with you," she snapped. She let go of the door so that she could cross her arms. "I'm supposed to believe that you work with my dad? You look like you're in high school."

"Wait, are you joking?" There wasn't even the smallest hint of amusement on her face. He had never known her to be able to keep up a joke without cracking.

Lizzie rolled her eyes. "Um, no. Anybody could say they know my dad. That's like… kidnapper 101."

Mike opened his mouth and then shut it again. She made a good point. "Okay, has your dad been giving you debate tips or something?"

"What?"

Mike finally lost his patience. He felt bad raising his voice, but he didn't have any other options. "Elizabeth Specter, I'm not leaving here without you, so either get in this car, or we will stand out there all day."

Lizzie's face turned stoic and her jaw set. Without saying a word, she pulled off her back pack and let it fall to the curb, then, she stepped away from the car.

That's how Mike found himself stuck out front of the school with a very stubborn pre-teen. After dismissing the towncar, he had tried reasoning with her, but it was pointless. Eventually she froze him out completely.

After 30 minutes, he had an idea. "How about I call Louis? He can vouch for me."

"Louis Litt?"

"Do you know another one?" came his incredulous question.

Finally, after a long pause, Lizzie gave in. "Okay."

Mike dreaded the phone call he was about to make, but it would be dark soon. They couldn't stand out on the sidewalk all night. He held his breath as he made the call. As predicted, Louis yelled at him, called him names, and told him never to show his face in the firm again. However, the man's tone changed when he asked to speak to Lizzie.

Whatever Louis said worked, because within ten minutes, they were both back in the car and heading up town.

"I wanna see my dad."

"You can't right now. He's in court."

The girl sighed. "Can't you take me there?"

Distracted by a work email, Mike chuckled. "Not if I want to live."

"But, I want my dad."

"Well, I want a vacation, but we can't always get what we want." She didn't respond, and when he glanced up, he noticed that her eyes were filled with tears. Shit.

Soon, tears began to drip down her cheeks. "I want my dad, now."

"Hey, don't cry." His statement made her cry harder and he started to panic. "Okay, okay…how about we go to his office? I was supposed to take you home, but the office is closer. We can meet him there."

Lizzie sniffled and then nodded. "Can I talk to Louis again?"

"Uh…sure…" Could the day get any worse? Mike didn't think so. Harvey really owed him one.

The phone barely rang before Louis was on the line, berating him again. "We're on our way to the firm. She wants to talk to you, she's um, well she's upset. I don't know why exactly…"

Louis' yelling was so loud that Mike had to pull the phone away from his ear. He had never been so relieved to hand the phone off. For the second time, he had no idea what Louis was saying, but he watched in fascination as Lizze not only stopped crying, but also started to laugh. Mike groaned. How did the afternoon go so wrong?

Two hours later, Mike and Lizzie were in Harvey's office, surrounded by take out containers, when the man walked in. One look at Harvey's venomous face had Mike standing up to plead his case.

"What the hell happened, Mike?" came Harvey's booming voice. "I asked you to do one simple thing, and you can't even do it?"

"Harvey, listen…." Mike tried, but he was quickly cut off.

"And why the hell am I finding out information about my daughter from Louis goddamn Litt?"

Mike groaned. "He called you? He actually called you while you were in court?"

"Of course he did," spat Harvey. "He lives for this kind of thing. How hard is it to pick up a child at school?"

"She wouldn't go with me!" snapped Mike. "What was I supposed to do, kidnap her?"

Harvey's dark eyes pierced into Mike's. "That's beside the point. If something's going wrong with my kid, you call me! You tell me! You don't call Louis. I'm her father. Got it?"

Mike ground his teeth. "Yeah, sure. I got it." He could have argued all day, but he suddenly noticed Lizzie standing completely still beside them, and opted to give his friend a break.

Harvey followed Mike's gaze to her, and his face went slack at her fearful expression.

"I'm sorry, Lizzie." He wrapped one arm around her and pulled her towards him. "I got tied up in a hearing. I should have warned you that Mike was picking you up."

Lizzie wrapped her arms around him so that she was engulfed in a big hug. When she pulled away she timidly asked, "are you mad at me?"

"No, it's my fault. You did the right thing, not getting into a car with a stranger."

Mike couldn't believe what he was hearing. He couldn't stay silent. "What the hell?" he objected. "It was my fault two minutes ago!"

Harvey ignored him and pointed to the door. "Let's get you home."

"Guys, seriously. Are you messing with me? How am I a stranger?" Mike had said all of this to Lizzie, but now he felt the need to say it to her father, too. "Harvey, is this a joke? I picked her up two weeks ago with no problems, this makes no sense."

Mike followed them to the door. Lizzie walked out first, giving Harvey an opportunity to talk to Mike alone.

"Just forget it," snapped Harvey.

"Forget it?"

Harvey looked down at the floor before meeting his eyes again. "I fucked up, okay?"

Harvey's previous anger was gone. It was replaced by an emotion that Mike couldn't place. "I've been working too much. I keep changing plans on her. I think this is how she's trying to tell me. She's acting out."

Mike furrowed his brows in disbelief. "Acting out?" "Is that what your therapist…" he lifted a hand to his mouth and feigned a cough before continuing, "I…mean girlfriend said?"

Harvey rolled his eyes. "First of all, she hasn't been my therapist in a long time. And second, I don't need her help with this. I know my daughter."

Mike couldn't let it go. "But, Harvey, one minute Lizzie's demanding that I bring her to you and the next minute she's crying. I didn't do anything, I swear."

Harvey's mouth curved into a cocky grin. "Welcome to my world." Then he turned and walked away. "I'll see you tomorrow. Don't be late."

Mike made sure that the pair had fully disappeared from view before he plopped down on Harvey's couch in exhaustion.

The world wasn't meant for two Harvey Specters.