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"I won't."
"You will."
"Harvey will never forgive me."
"Right now, your problem isn't with Harvey. Your problem is with me. You don't do this, who's to say you don't end up in a cell for practicing law without a degree?"
"And who's to say you don't share it with me for knowing about it the whole time?”
Jessica snaps back by calling Mike's bluff, pulling out a closed folder she claims to be a letter to the District Attorney, driving her point home that she has Mike's future and freedom in her hands and that there is nothing he can do about it. And maybe it would work. If Mike had less faith in Harvey, if he was more scared about what's going to happen to him and less concerned with letting Harvey down.
But the thing is, that's not the case. From the moment he met him at the Chilton Hotel that fateful day, Mike has known that he would do anything for Harvey Specter. Most people would have called the cops loitering outside that room the second Mike's briefcase opened and spilled enough weed on the floor to put him in jail for a long time. Of the remaining percentage, someone else would have turned a blind eye in the face of Mike's blatant breaking of the law and sent him on his way, washing their hands of him and staying far away from that shitstorm, never to see him again.
But Harvey? No, Harvey is not most people. He's not even part of that small percentile that is surprisingly okay with law breaking as long as it's nothing major nor does it involve them. No. No. Harvey saw a smartass loser with too much brains and cockiness and not enough sense and decided he was better than all those Harvard clones waiting outside that room for a chance to suck up to a Senior Partner. He decided to put his own freedom, his job, and his reputation on the line, all for Mike. To give him a shot. To prove people wrong, even if the only ones who knew the truth were him and Mike.
And maybe if Jessica had pulled this shit around that time, when Mike was still new to all this and just as naive, before he truly knew Harvey, he would've gone for it. He would've believed that Harvey took a chance on him for his own amusement and nothing else, that he didn't truly owe Harvey anything beyond the labour he'd already given him. He wouldn't have cared about disappointing the man, about betraying his trust, because he would've reasoned that there is no trust there, nothing to repay, nobody to disappoint.
But he does know better.
How many times has Harvey been there for him? How many chances has he had to get rid of Mike and the threat his presence at the firm brings with every day he steps foot into the building and takes on cases? How many cracks in the armour has Mike seen, glimpses at the painful humanity hidden underneath the smirks and the gelled hair and the immaculate three-piece suits?
Harvey has given Mike everything. Everything. The money to help Grammy, a shot at doing real good for people who deserve more than an unfeeling lawyer telling them how much their loved ones’ lives are worth, the only chance he's ever likely to have to be a lawyer. He's even given him another family, weird and mismatched as it is, but his. A support system consisting of Harvey himself, Donna, Rachel, even Louis when he's not being a dickhead.
How could Mike ever betray him and take away the chance at something he's wanted since forever? How could Mike jeopardise Harvey's chance at being name partner? Because he knows, because he's not stupid, that if he fucks this up, if Harvey loses because of Mike, there is no way in hell Jessica is making Harvey name partner any time soon. And maybe she still won't, even if the merger gets stopped and Harvey wins, but at least Mike will sleep easy knowing he did everything he could to help him. That failure, of any kind, didn't come because of something Mike did or didn't do.
“That's cute,” Mike shoots back. It's satisfying, seeing the offended shock on Jessica's face at his reply, even as terror grips his heart and threatens to bring him to his knees. He's scared; of course he is. Who wouldn't be? But this is something he has to do, his own fate be damned.
“Excuse me?”
“Is that even a letter to the DA? No offense, Jessica, but I've seen Harvey pull that trick enough times to doubt there's anything of actual value in that folder.” Jessica opens her mouth, gearing up for a veritable tongue lashing no doubt, but Mike continues before she has a chance to get started. “Frankly, even if it is, I couldn't care less. You really think you'll get off scot-free if you wave that around the DA's face?”
“It'll be my word against yours,” Jessica spits, “and no one will believe a no-name fraud over the managing partner of one of the most successful law firms in New York.”
“Maybe,” Mike sing-songs, shrugging carelessly just to see her eye twitch at the nonchalance and disrespect. “But between a ‘no-name fraud’ and Jessica Pearson herself, who do you think is the bigger fish? I bet I could even get them to let me go without a single minute served if I play my cards right and give them you.”
“If you do that, then you'll also be giving them Harvey.”
“Not really. Sure, we all know he hired me in that room at the hotel, but it's you who signs off on employment contracts, isn't it? And it's your firm's HR department who's in charge of background checks and the like. It's you who'd be notified if they found discrepancies. You who'd have the power and opportunity to sweep it under the rug or go above HR's head to begin with. You, Jessica. Not Harvey.”
“But that's not how it happened, though, is it?”
Mike once again shrugs. “Who's to say? All I know is that I took a shot and got hired. I impressed Harvey, he told me I was hired, I got out of there before he could ask more questions about my qualifications.” At Jessica's increasingly thunderous expression, Mike takes a step forward and leans closer until their faces are inches apart, just to drive the point home. “And if the DA doesn't buy it? I'll throw you so hard under the bus you'll be spitting wheels for decades in exchange for immunity for Harvey. Even if it means I spend the rest of my life in prison.”
The naked shock and disbelief in her eyes is clear and genuine. Mike doesn't understand why it's so hard to believe that Mike cares about Harvey this much, why it's still a surprise to her that he would burn the world for that man. Hasn't he made it clear enough yet?
“You'd really do that…? For Harvey?” She breathes.
“That, and more,” Mike agrees as he steps back and straightens up, chin lifted and staring back at her without flinching. “I take my commitments seriously, Miss Pearson, and I committed to Harvey Specter from the moment he gave me a chance. I will not spit in his face and you can't make me. You can fire me, you can threaten me with legal action, you can do whatever you want. But you can't make me betray Harvey.”
Having said that, Mike spins on his heel and walks out of Jessica's office, but stops right on the threshold as he's holding the glass door open. He pauses there for a short second as he half turns back towards the older woman without actually looking at her, just her reflection in the glass.
“Oh, and Jessica? If there's one thing I've learned about Harvey, it's that he will never forgive you if you do end up going after me or firing me over this merger war. So just think about that, before you make a decision. Now if you'll excuse me, I have court in the morning. I need to be well rested, so I think I'm done for the day.”
She doesn't say anything else. Mike walks out, letting the door fall shut on his way out, and makes a beeline for the elevators. He manages to keep his composure and his straight posture up until he gets inside the car, but as soon as the slick, metallic doors slide closed and he starts making his descent, Mike's legs give out from underneath him and he only doesn't fall to his knees by grabbing the support bar and holding on for dear life. His heart is beating a million miles a minute. He's truly convinced he will have a heart attack before he can reach the ground floor, but by some miracle, he stays alive until the doors open again and through his journey across the lobby and into the bustling evening streets of Manhattan.
Mike takes a big, gulping breath, then another, and another, staying rooted to the spot in front of the Pearson Hardman building for long minutes as he tries to regain his composure.
He can't believe he just did that. He stood up to Jessica Pearson herself. He shut her up. He threatened her. Successfully. Jesus Christ.
Mike allows himself a couple more minutes to freak out and congratulate himself in quick succession but then he pulls out his phone and dials number two on his speed dial. (Number one is out of service now and always will be, but he hasn't had the heart to remove it yet since Grammy died.)
“Mike? What the hell are you doing calling me at this hour? Don't tell me something's wrong, court's tomorrow.”
“Harvey…” Mike breathes out, nervous yet oddly calm at the sound of the other man's voice. It's weird how Harvey can fluster Mike so easily yet comfort him with the blanket of his protection just by orbiting around him, even when he's not physically there.
“Mike,” Harvey shoots back, parroting Mike in a serious, firm tone of voice. “What's going on, kid?”
“I… might have threatened Jessica. Just a little bit. Just now.”
“You what?!” Harvey yelps into the phone and okay, ouch, that was too loud, pulling the phone away from his ear now. “Get your ass over here, I'm not having this conversation over the phone.”
Great.
“Uh, sure thing. Be there soon.”
The line clicks and Mike heaves a big sigh before steeling himself and heading to the bike rack where his ride is waiting.
***
Harvey's apartment is just as luxurious and stupidly opulent as the last time Mike was here. He doesn't get to admire it further, though, since he's too busy trying to prevent Harvey from strangling him the second he's pulled through the door by the strap of his messenger bag.
“What the hell did you do? Explain, now.”
Mike stares back into stormy brown eyes and feels his heart sink. He knows so well just how easily those eyes can darken with disappointment or fire up with incandescent rage. Every time he sees them, he vows to himself to do anything in his power never to see that again. Never to be the cause of it again. But he keeps fucking up. Even when he doesn't mean to. Maybe the real issue is that he is a disappointment, a failure, a walking time bomb waiting to blow up in everyone's faces. The kind thing, the right thing, would be to quit while he's ahead, before he can ruin Harvey and drag him down to the slums with him.
If only he weren't so selfish. If only he could quit Harvey.
So, despite his nerves, despite fearing Harvey's reaction, Mike pulls himself together and tells him everything. Jessica's order, her threat, his threat. He spills it all right there in the hallway of Harvey's condo, wringing his hands and ignoring his thundering heartbeat, laying it all out in front of his boss, his mentor, his friend, his crush, his salvation. He speaks and he hopes. For what, he doesn't know.
Silence drapes over them like a blanket once Mike finishes speaking. For once, Harvey Specter seems speechless. He stands in front of Mike, arms held loose at his sides as if he doesn't know what to do with them, and he stares at Mike with a face slack with surprise and a myriad of other emotions Mike has no hope of deciphering. Those intense eyes are flickering in all directions, cataloguing every inch of Mike's face, and it takes everything he has not to blush and fidget under the attention.
Finally, Harvey speaks.
“Why did you do that?”
Mike furrows his brows and flounders for a second before he answers, puzzled, “What do you mean?”
“Why on earth did you threaten Jessica with that? Why would you risk your freedom like that?” Harvey elaborates, raising his voice. He's not quite yelling – this isn't the thundering screams he lets out in anger – but the tone and volume still make Mike straighten up and take notice.
“Because!” Mike shoots back, raising his own voice in agitation. “She was going to turn me in!”
“So you threatened to take her down with you? Mike, she's Jessica Pearson! She has the clout, money and connections to get out of this! There's no tangible evidence that she knew about you beyond your word!”
Harvey is getting more agitated, eyes wide, jaw clenched tightly, a muscle ticking every so often, and his right hand is balled into a fist as his side too. Mike notes all of this quickly and files it into his mental library but he doesn't dwell on it because he's busy with his own agitation. He takes a step forward, then two, and jams a finger into Harvey's chest.
“I. Don't. Care. There's no evidence? I'll make some. She doesn't get to threaten me into betraying you like that! Not you!”
Mike doesn't realise he yelled that last bit until his own voice echoes in his ears in the ensuing silence and stillness. He's breathing heavily and his heartbeat is in his throat, but he stays there, heaving, touching Harvey and willing him to understand.
Brown eyes stare back at him in surprise.
“You did that… for me?” he asks hesitantly.
Mike scoffs. “Of course I did. Why is that even a question?”
“Mike, I… You…”
Under normal circumstances, Mike would be delighting in the sight of a stuttering Harvey and teasing him about it mercilessly. But as it is, he can only shake his head in disbelief and heartbreak. He knew Harvey could never feel the same about him – there is a reason he's kept his crush under lock and key, after all – but he didn't think Harvey would find the possibility of Mike caring about him so alien, so outlandish. Would he be disgusted if he knew how deep Mike's feelings for him run?
“Look, Harvey. You got me this job and I know you share some of the blame here, but my poor life choices are the only reason you were ever in a position to break the law by giving me a chance. I owe you more than I can ever repay, but more than that, you are my friend. I care about you. I would never betray your trust and I would never let you go down for what you did for me and what you keep doing every day you don't fire me. Going to jail for you, perjuring myself to take Jessica down with me? That's the least I would do in exchange for having you in my life these past two years.”
Harvey's mouth has fallen open during Mike's speech and it's such a beautiful sight that it tempts Mike so very badly to close the distance between them and slot his own lips in the gap. He reins himself in, only just, but isn't quite strong enough to put back the distance between them from before by stepping away. He looks and waits and watches as Harvey's eyes turn slightly glassy and glittery with emotion, as he swallows thickly, pursed lips thinning for a moment, and as he lifts a hand towards Mike's face and cups his left cheek with a touch so soft, so tender, Mike fears he's dreaming it. He is truly powerless to the way his breath hitches and his eyes widen in response.
“You… are… the most magnificent creature I've ever had the fortune to meet,” Harvey whispers, sounding awed and reverent in a way Mike is sure he can't handle. He swallows hard, Adam's apple bobbing, when Harvey shortens the distance between them even more by stepping closer and leaning in. “I'm going to kiss you now,” he warns and Mike has no objections to that course of action even if he still feels like he's hallucinating this entire thing.
Maybe Jessica whacked him in her office after he threatened her and he's in Heaven now. If that's the case, he can only thank God for the consolation prize.
Mike's eyes slide closed at the first press of Harvey's lips against his. They're soft and a bit wet from Harvey's tongue running over them before and Mike sighs into the kiss without even realising. It feels… perfect. It's like something clicked, a puzzle finally fitting in place, a wrong righted after years of living in discomfort, and Mike feels whole for what feels like the first time in his life. It's so cliché, he knows, but he can't help it.
He lifts his hands and wraps his arms around Harvey's neck, clinging to him as the other man deepens the kiss and places his other hand on Mike's waist, a possessive, grounding touch right above his hip. Harvey's tongue reaches out to trace the seam of Mike's lips and he doesn't even have to think before he opens his mouth and grants him access. Being eaten alive by Harvey is the best way to go, if you ask Mike, and so he gives himself over without hesitation.
They're both out of breath when they finally manage to pull apart. Mike is probably looking at Harvey with an expression of pure adoration on his face but he doesn't give a shit, not after a kiss like that. The still dazed look on Harvey's face tells him he might feel the same.
“I hope you have the files you need for court tomorrow because I'm not letting you leave my apartment tonight.”
Mike laughs and the tension that's been hanging over them so far breaks. He lets his head thump forward, forehead resting on Harvey's chest, and he shakes with near silent giggles in the other man's embrace.
“Yeah, yes. I have it on me. Fucking hell, Harvey.”
“What? You can't expect me to let you go after that speech and the kiss we just shared!” Mike can hear the grin in Harvey's voice and it takes all of his self control not to lift his face and kiss him senseless again.
“Wouldn't dream of it,” he sighs and finally straightens back up, lowering his arms to Harvey's waist instead. He looks at the older man in front of him with a more serious expression and bites at his lower lip worriedly. “I might not have the right to use those papers tomorrow, though.”
Harvey shakes his head, palm squeezing Mike's hip in reassurance, and he brings his head closer to him until their foreheads are touching.
“I'm not letting anything happen to you.”
And Mike believes him. He doesn't understand why, doesn't get what made a man like Harvey Specter be so willing to throw everything away for a fuckup like Mike, but he knows he has Harvey's loyalty and protection, somehow, some way, and he doesn't doubt him for a second when he says he has Mike's back. If anything, he'll always know that, even if he goes down, Harvey did everything he could, exhausted every lead, burned every bridge and every bit of leverage he had, to try to get him off. And that's all that matters in the end.
“I know,” Mike replies, smiling softly at him and accepting the firm, closed mouth kiss Harvey presses on him in response.
It's not quite “I love you”, yet, but they both hear what the other doesn't say loud and clear. They've been saying it for a while, it just took some time for the meaning to sink in.
“C'mon, let's get you out of that suit and into something more comfortable.”
“If that's your way of trying to get me naked, I've gotta say I'm disappointed with your game, Mr. Specter,” Mike teases even as he takes off his shoes and lets himself be tugged into the condo by Harvey's hand.
“Oh, trust me, rookie, you'll know game when you hear it,” Harvey shoots back, voice dropping an octave as he throws a heated look over his shoulder. Mike gulps, a wave of scorching heat traveling through his body in the span of a second and settling in his lower belly.
“I take it back,” he mumbles and he isn't even peeved when Harvey barks out a laugh and drags Mike further inside and into his bedroom. And when the other man dumps a change of clothes into his arms and shoves him in the direction of the bathroom, he can't even complain about the rough treatment, not when Harvey tilts his chin up with careful fingers and steals his breath away with another wonderful kiss right before he shuts the bathroom door in his face.
Not a bad way to end the night, all things considered. By the time he drifts off to sleep with Harvey wrapped around him, both of them clothed but soft and warm under the covers, Jessica Pearson and her threats are the last things on Mike's mind.