Harvey had called his office asking to work from home. It wasn't something that was usually done at his level, but he had convinced Jessica to let him while he handled the situation at home. A part of him wanted to go back to sleep, and try to catch a snooze before Mike woke up. But he figured it would probably be better if he was awake and at the house when Mike woke up.

Harvey's thoughts were interrupted by the faint sound of footsteps. He looked up to see Mike standing in the doorway, looking groggy but curious. "Morning, Mike," Harvey said, offering a small smile. "How are you feeling?"

Mike shrugged, rubbing his eyes. "I'm okay, I guess," he mumbled. Harvey stood up and walked over to the dining table, positioning himself by the door to ensure Mike couldn't slip out again. "Why don't you come sit down and have some breakfast?" Harvey suggested, nodding towards the table. "We need to talk about what happened yesterday."

Mike hesitated for a moment but then nodded, slowly making his way to the table. Harvey watched him carefully, ready to step in if Mike tried to make a run for it. He knew they needed to have this conversation, and he was determined to make sure Mike stayed put this time.

Mike looked like he was barely awake, slumping down in the chair with his arms crossed on the table, his head resting between them. His sleepy eyes told the tale of a night not quite long enough. Harvey observed him quietly, preparing himself for the conversation ahead.

Harvey leaned forward, his worry evident in his eyes. "Mike, when you ran away in the middle of the night, it scared the hell out of me," he said, his voice a mix of concern and frustration. "I need to understand what drove you to do that. Why did you feel like you had to leave? We need to get to the bottom of this together. That's the only way we're going to move forward " He paused, trying to connect with Mike on a deeper level. "I'm here for you, Mike. Just talk to me."

Harvey waited a moment for Mike's response. The silence was heavy, and Harvey could feel the tension in the air. He knew that getting Mike to open up was crucial. Mike just looked up at him, his eyes filled with a mix of confusion and hesitation. Harvey could see the turmoil in Mike's gaze and knew this was a pivotal moment. Mike didn't say anything, but the gears in his head were turning as if he was about to. Harvey could sense that Mike was on the verge of opening up, and he waited patiently, giving him the space he needed. Mike reached for the bowl that placed in the middle of the dining table, he poured in the milk and cheerios. He mixed the cheerios subconsciously before bringing it to his mouth. When it was clear that Mike wasn't going to speak, Harvey continued.

"I know, Mike. I haven't been the best father," Harvey admitted, his voice tinged with regret. "Mike, I know I've let you down more times than I can count. I missed so much of your childhood because I was so absorbed in myself and my career. I kept telling myself that I was trying to do this for you and mom." A tear escaped from his eye but he continued speaking, not bothering to wipe it. "When I look back, I have no idea what I was thinking. You didn't deserve that, Mom didn't deserve that either. It's why she filed for divorce, she wanted what was best for you. And at the time it was keeping you away from me. She wanted to protect your heart from being broken." He swallowed preventing him from letting out a sob.

Harvey's eyes filled with tears, and his voice cracked as he spoke. "Mike, I've messed up in so many ways. I wasn't there when you needed me the most, and I made mistakes that hurt you. I'm so, so sorry for everything. For every moment I let you down, for every promise I broke. I wish I could take it all back." He wiped a tear from his cheek and continued, "I know words aren't enough, but I'm trying, Mike. I'm really trying to be the father you deserve. I might slip up sometimes because I'm new to this, and I feel so bad that I don't even know the first thing about you. But I'm trying. I'm trying so hard; to learn and do better, for you."

Harvey gazed down at his son, his heart heavy with emotion. The vulnerability in Mike's eyes mirrored the pain and longing in Harvey's own. It was a moment of raw connection, a silent exchange of understanding and forgiveness that spoke volumes. In that shared gaze, Harvey found a glimmer of hope for their fractured relationship, a chance to mend what had been broken between them.

Mike's eyes were already brimming with tears as he began to speak, his voice trembling. "It's hard to know that you care when you've never cared in the past! How am I supposed to believe that you magically changed after mom died?" His voice cracked and he could barely hold back the sobs. "Do you have any idea how long I waited for you to show up at my school events? How many birthdays I stayed up waiting for you to call, just once? How many times I opened and closed the mailbox, hoping there'd be a letter from you?"

His voice grew louder and more anguished. "But guess what, Harvey? You never did. You never called mom to ask about me, you never gave a damn before. Why did it have to take mom dying for you to start?"

Tears streamed down Mike's face, his words coming out in choked gasps. "You know who cared? Uncle Marcus. He called me on my birthdays and holidays. He was there when you weren't. And now you want me to believe you've changed? That you suddenly care?" Mike's voice broke completely, but he kept going.

"You want to talk about being a father now?" he spat, his voice dripping with venom. "You were never a father to me. You were just a ghost, a shadow that loomed over my life, casting nothing but darkness. Do you have any idea how much I hate you? How much I wish you were dead instead of mom?"

Harvey recoiled as if he'd been slapped, but Mike continued, his words like daggers. "You think a few words can erase years of neglect? You think you can waltz back into my life and play the hero? You're a joke, Harvey. A pathetic excuse for a father. The only thing you've ever been good at is making me feel worthless."

Tears streamed down Mike's face, but his voice remained cold and hard. "I don't need your apologies. I don't need your guilt. I needed you when I was a kid, and you weren't there. So don't pretend like you care now. It's too late."

Harvey felt the sting of Mike's words deeply, but he took a deep breath and steadied himself. "You're right." he said softly, his voice breaking. "I wasn't there when you needed me, I can't change the past. But I regret not being the dad you deserved. I know I've caused you pain, and I can't take that back."

Harvey took a deep breath, steadying himself. "Mike, I understand why you felt like you had to run away. But you shouldn't have. Running away didn't solve anything; it just made things harder for both of us. We should have faced this together. I want you to know that I'm here now, and I'm not going anywhere. We can work through this, but I need you to stay and talk to me. I don't expect you to forgive me, and I don't expect things to change overnight. But I want to try, Mike. I want to be here for you now, in any way you'll let me. I know it's too late to fix everything, but it's never too late to start trying."

Mike could reply with, "I get it, Harvey. It's just really hard for me to talk about this stuff. But I see you're trying, and maybe we can try together?"

Harvey nodded, "Absolutely, Mike. How about we spend the day together today? I called you out sick from school, so we could just hang out, do something fun; go to the park, watch a movie, and talk if we feel like it. No pressure, just us."

Mike nodded, reaching for the box of cheerios, and slowly poured it into the bowl. Meanwhile Harvey sat across from him, typing away on his laptop, trying to get some work done. The sound of the screaming match was replaced with the soft sounds of Mike eating cereal and the soft hums coming from Harvey as he tried to focus.

After a beat, Mike leaned over looking at the papers Harvey was looking at before speaking. The emotions in his voice were replaced with normalcy. "What are you working on?"

Harvey who had been so lost in reading, didn't hear Mike at first, "hmm?" he replied. "Oh, I really shouldn't be telling you this but I guess it's okay." Harvey leaned forward, his expression serious. "Todd Baxter's been with this company for over a decade. On the surface, everything looked perfect—profits were up, shareholders were happy. But then, we started finding discrepancies in the financial statements. It looks like Todd might have been manipulating numbers to keep the company's stock prices high.

There's a lot at stake here, not just for Todd, but for everyone involved. If he's guilty, it could mean prison time and the end of his career. But if we can prove he was set up or that there's a reasonable explanation, we might be able to save him. It's a high-pressure situation, and every piece of evidence we uncover could change the entire direction of the case."

Mike looked at his dad with interest. "Have you been able to subpoena the files."

Harvey nodded, "Yeah, we managed to get the subpoenas for the files. It's a huge step forward. We're combing through them now, trying to find anything that can either clear Todd's name or at least give us a better understanding of what really happened. It's tedious work, but every detail counts. I have a meeting this afternoon to go over everything with him. Let's hope I find something by then, or I might lose him as a client."

Mike looked at Harvey with curiosity. "Do you need any help with that, Dad? I know it's a lot, but maybe I can lend a hand, go through some of the files with you."

Harvey had tried to convince Mike that he could be do much with his day off instead of helping look through boring case files. But Mike seemed excited that Harvey reluctantly handed him a few files to look through.

Mike had read through the files, asking Harvey questions about precedents and law. Harvey had tried his best to explained everything to Mike. He was excited that Mike was willingly spending time with him, working no less. It wasn't long until Mike had found something.

Mike's eyes lit up as he pointed to a section in the document. "Harvey, look at this. There's a precedent here, would this work? It's from a case about five years ago where the circumstances were pretty similar."

Harvey leaned over, scanning the page quickly. A smile spread across his face. "Mike, this is brilliant. This could be the key to turning things around for our case. You did an amazing job finding this."

Mike felt a surge of pride at Harvey's words. "I'm glad I could help. Maybe we can actually win this together."

Harvey nodded, his expression serious but warm. "Absolutely, Mike. And more than that, I'm just really glad we're doing this together. It means a lot to me."

Harvey glanced at the clock, it had turned 11:30, he had half an hour before his meeting. He rose up from the table, ruffling Mike's hair. " I have to get ready for a meeting with Todd, Promise you'll be here when I get back?"

Mike nodded. "Yeah, I'll be here. Harvey, go get ready. I'll gather all the papers and put them in your briefcase."

Ten minutes later, Harvey was ready. He said goodbye to Mike, promising to be back soon. He grabbed his briefcase and walked down the stairs, calling Ray. On the way to the office, he opened his briefcase absentmindedly so he could flip through the pages. The page on top, was the file with the highlighted precedent and a sticky note from Mike which read, "Good Luck Dad!!"

Harvey smiled. He could feel the beginning of the shift in their relationship.