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Sleight of Hand

Chapter 19: Outlaw Line

Summary:

The beginning in the ending.

Chapter Text

Michael and Rachel walked onto the elevator in Harvey’s building. They were attending a victory dinner in celebration of Harvey, Julian, and Louis’s successful takeover of Pearson Hardman. Tonight’s dinner was Harvey’s way of thanking everyone that played a role. Although, Mike was almost positive this was Donna’s idea. Harvey wasn’t really the type that liked people in his personal space. Mike was his associate and he could count on one hand the number of times Harvey extended a genuine invitation to his home.

The guest list to the party was fairly small. Harvey and Donna invited Mike, Rachel, Louis, Sheila, Julian, Maya, Lola, and Benjamin.

He glanced at the bottle of champagne he was holding. “I don’t know why we had to pick this up. Harvey and Donna are having this dinner catered by some trendy chef. I am sure they will have more champagne than any of us can drink. The probably ordered a case of something.”

Rachel frowned at him as she put her phone into her purse. “You bring a gift when you get invited to a function like this. Wine or champagne are customary as gifts for the host.”

Mike shook his head and glanced at the bottle of champagne. He knew his true reluctance was saying goodbye to the job he loved. Mike knew that resigning was the right decision but it still left him feeling a bit cold.

He fidgeted in the suit he was wearing. It wasn’t one of his normal suits. Rachel insisted they buy something new to celebrate Harvey, Louis, and Julian’s big night. Mike realized he was already falling prey to the relationship stereotypes. However, he did have to admit that he looked great in the suit Rachel chose for him.

When the elevator arrived at the floor, the young couple exited the car and knocked on Harvey’s door.

Harvey opened the door looking like he had just stepped off the cover of a men’s magazine. His hair was perfectly coiffed and he was wearing what had to be a bespoke suit judging by the way that it hung on his frame perfectly. “Hello. Come in. Donna has been waiting for the two of you.”

After seeing Harvey’s attire Mike was suddenly glad that he listened to Rachel about buying a new suit. He would have been wildly underdressed in what he initially wanted to wear. He blinked. “I’m sorry. Are we late?”

He chuckled. “No. Donna just wanted to have a little time alone with the two of you before the rest of the guests arrive. There hasn’t been time to talk in the last week.”

Specter, Cohen, and Litt was little more than a week old and had been thrust into survival mode and it was all hands on deck. Harvey was cracking the whip on the senior partners to ensure they were properly schmoozing and cajoling their clients. A few accounts fled the firm but more were waiting around to see if other firms could offer something better. It was their job to make sure they could not. That meant a lot of long nights for everyone.

Mike said, “Oh. Well, this is for you. I don’t know anything about champagne but Rachel said this is magnificent.”

Harvey raised his eyebrow at that.

Mike shrugged. “Those were her words, not mine. You know I’d be content with a six-pack of beer.”

The new managing partner chuckled and shook his head. “Plebian. Thank you, Rachel.”

She smiled. “You’re welcome, Harvey.”

Mike and Rachel followed Harvey into the living room where Donna was seated on the couch. Mike noted almost immediately that Donna’s belongings now occupied Harvey’s space. There was a warmer feel to the once sterile penthouse.

She stood up seeing them approach. “I am so glad the two of you made it. I was beginning to think you were going to try to be fashionably late.”

Rachel hugged Donna. “We wouldn’t miss it for the world. Our being late is my fault. I wasn’t feeling well this evening. Who knew morning sickness happened at night?”

Donna nodded in understanding and lightly rubbed Rachel’s back in support. She was feeling quite lucky that she wasn’t experiencing very much morning sickness. Harvey and the firm needed her to put her best foot forward. She was now the managing partner’s assistant which meant she was keeping later hours right along with Harvey. That wouldn’t be possible if she was spending half the day in the bathroom.

“Do you want anything to drink?” asked Donna. “We have some ginger ale if you need something to settle your stomach.”

Rachel said, “No, I feel better now. My anti-nausea medicine finally kicked in. I’ll have whatever you’re having…”

Donna nodded in understanding. Both women would be sticking to nonalcoholic beverages for the evening. She looked at Mike. “What about you?”

He said, “Uh, I’ll have a vodka tonic.”

Donna smiled and said, “Coming right up. Why don’t you give me hand, Rachel?”

Rachel said, “Of course. Besides, I want to hear all about moving into Harvey’s bachelor pad. Did you find porn?”

Donna’s eyes widened and her lips quirked into a mischievous smile. “Oh, you’d be surprised what I found. Come on.”

Harvey chuckled and shook his head. He wondered when his life would slow down enough that he could take a moment to enjoy the fact that he was married to that amazing woman.

Mike cleared his throat and asked, “What did you want to talk about?”

Harvey gave him a confused look and then smirked. “Who said I wanted to talk to you about anything, rookie?”

“Well, it doesn’t take two people to make a vodka tonic and what looks to be a sparkling cider,” said Mike, he picked up Donna’s glass and had a quick sniff just to confirm his theory.

The older man smirked. “I did want to talk you about something before the night got under way. I want you to know that you don’t have to worry about Jessica saying anything to anyone about your secret. I let her know in no uncertain terms that if she ever breathed a word about you to anyone I would use the evidence I have against her without a second thought.”

Mike shook his head as he returned Donna’s glass to the table. He felt a weight lift off his shoulders hearing that news. “Thank you for making sure that Jessica keeps my secret. It has been on my mind a lot this last week. In some ways, it is still like having a sword hanging over my head.”

“I know but Jessica believes in self-preservation. She knows that saying anything about you would be tantamount to destroying her own future as well.”

Mike asked, “Are you going to let her out of the non-compete clause in her contract?”

He shook his head. “No, Jessica is too formidable an opponent for me to be that benevolent to her. She would have no trouble stealing my clients out from under me. However, I told her if she moved to the West Coast I wouldn’t interfere.”

“Well, that was generous of you, Harvey,” said Mike, he had a proud smile on his face. Leading up to the takeover Harvey had been so filled with righteous rage that Mike worried he would destroy Jessica just because he could. He had never witnessed Harvey that way and it was a remarkable sight, but Mike thought some mercy was in order. Hardman started all of this. Jessica was just playing the hand she was dealt to the best of her ability.

“There is something else I wanted to say to you, Mike. I want to thank you for all the work you put into the takeover. You did it knowing you wouldn’t get to enjoy the spoils of war. You weren’t on the clock for Pearson Hardman so you didn’t even get paid for your work. Moreover, you quit your job to protect me and I appreciate that. I never even thought about Jessica using you against me. I had tunnel vision.”

Harvey didn’t need to say that it wasn’t just the takeover that Mike helped him with the past few months. When he began to lose himself to the despair of losing Donna, Mike stepped in to cover his ass. Mike had done that without question or complaint.

“You don’t need to thank me, Harvey. I was glad to help you. I helped because you’re the first person to give me a chance. I screwed up my life at Columbia. I ruined my chances and I thought I’d never be able to do the one thing that I loved. You changed all of that the day you hired me. It has been an amazing ride but that kind of secret has a definite shelf life. I was always living on borrowed time.”

Harvey smiled and said, “Don’t pretend that I haven’t benefited from my gamble. You are the best damn associate Pearson Hardman has ever seen with the exception of me and that’s with you never attending a single day of law school.”

Mike chuckled softly. He knew that was the highest form of praise coming from Harvey. “Well, thank you. I learned a lot from you and Louis. When I am finally a real boy I’ll be a better lawyer because of it.”

Harvey walked over to a bureau at the edge of the room and pulled out two slips of paper he returned and handed them to Mike.

The younger man took the slips of paper and studied them quickly and then his jaw dropped. “What is this? I don’t understand…”

He said, “The first check should cover the estimated cost of attendance for Oxford or Cambridge. You won’t have to worry about paying for tuition to attend. Before you say anything, you are going to accept the money because it is not charity. It is an investment for the future. When you finish law school there, I would like you to get your LLM at Harvard. That way you will be a Harvard educated lawyer and I can hire you again. That will be four or five years in the future so the statute of limitations would have ran out for the fraud.”

Mike shook his head unsure of what to say. This was beyond anything he could have expected. He opened his mouth to say something but quickly closed it. Harvey was paying for his education and promising him a job at Specter, Cohen, and Litt when he graduated.

He swallowed thickly. “Thank you, Harvey. That sounds hollow and not nearly grand enough to match this gesture but it is heartfelt. You don’t know what this means to me.”

He said, “Yes, I do. There was a time when I was a screw up living paycheck-to-paycheck doing a job that was sorely beneath my capabilities. I don’t know where I would be if Jessica hadn’t recognized my potential and paid for my way at Harvard. I am taking a much smaller risk than she did because I know the type of lawyer you are, Mike. I know exactly what I am getting out of this deal.”

Mike continued to stare at the check but then realized he hadn’t examined the second slip of paper which he assumed as another check. He looked it over and asked, “What is this for?”

Harvey said, “You can think of it as severance or whatever. I don’t care. I just want to make sure that you have a good head start. You’re going to be going to law school and starting your life with Rachel.”

Mike shook his head. “Harvey…”

He said, “Take it. If you don’t take it I will be forced to get Donna to make you take it.”

The younger man laughed softly and shook his head. “Let’s not get Donna involved. I don’t know what to say. I already owe you so much. I’ll never be able to pay you back.”

“Sure you will. One day you will be working for me at Specter, Cohen, and Litt and you will be making me an ass load of money but more importantly, you’ll be making me proud. You are capable of anything you want in this world, Mike. Go make it happen. You’ve got no excuses.”

Donna and Rachel walked into the room on cue. The two women were teary eyed and smiling broadly. It was obvious they had been eavesdropping on Mike and Harvey’s conversation.

Rachel sidled up to Mike and kissed his cheek. “I am glad that you accepted Harvey’s generosity. Thank you, Harvey.”

Harvey laughed. “No one else is allowed to thank me. What is done is done. I don’t want to hear anymore about it.”

Mike smirked. “Are you worried that your heart is showing?”

“I don’t have a heart, rookie…”

Donna smirked and said, “I thought you were missing a brain, Scarecrow.”

Everyone got a good laugh at Donna’s joke except for Harvey.

“Hardy har har.”

Harvey looked up hearing a knock at the door. “I’ll get that. Looks like the guests are starting to arrive.”

Donna said, “Let me put hose away from you until the end of the night, Mike.”

“Oh, thank you, Donna.” He passed the checks over to her and watched as she put them back into the bureau.

Donna locked the bureau just to be safe.

Over the next twenty minutes, the rest of the guests arrived and the party got into full swing. Music played in the background and the drinks flowed freely. It was as much a celebration of making it the first week as it was for the takeover. There was a long road ahead but they were all optimistic.

Harvey couldn’t help but feel a little withdrawn from the celebration. As excited, as he was for this new journey he was disappointed that Mike wasn’t going to be with him. He had to admit the kid made a pretty damn good Robin to his Batman. However, seeing Mike dance with Rachel made him realize his resignation was as much about the life he wanted to build with her.

Donna walked over and leaned her head on his shoulder. She said, “He’ll come back, Harvey.”

He nodded and said, “I know he will.”

“You could tell him you’re going to miss him.”

He scoffed. “That isn’t going to happen.”

Donna smirked and asked, “You aren’t going to miss him or you aren’t going to tell him you will miss him?”

Harvey rolled his eyes but smiled as Frank Sinatra’s Fly Me to the Moon began to play. He said, “I don’t believe we’ve danced as husband and wife. We should fix that.”

Donna laughed softly and took Harvey’s hand as he walked out into the middle of the floor.

He pulled Donna to him and started to slowly sway to the music. He looked over Donna’s shoulder and smiled seeing Mike and Rachel dancing as well.

Mike smiled back at Harvey and realized for the first time that he still had a family. He chuckled to himself.

Rachel asked, “What’s so funny?”

Mike’s eyes glinted as he looked at her. “Life…”

The End