The world's finest treasure [7/?]
Title: The world’s finest treasure
Pairing: Harvey Specter/Mike Ross
Other characters: Donna, Ray
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 4,844
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters.
Warning: potentially dangerous situations, appearance of guns, injuries of useless extras (nothing explicit)
Summary: Harvey sits down with a piece of cloth to polish the hideous lamp.
Author’s note: Originally written for suits_meme. The prompt was ‘Harvey somehow acquired Mike-the-Genie.’ For those who don't watch 'White Collar', Dante Haversham is an alias for Mozzie, the guest character in this chapter.
Previously in ‘The world’s finest treasure’…
Mike had found out that Harvey used to work for the D.A’s office. Harvey had told him what had happened with Cameron and how Donna and Jessica had helped him out. Mike had insisted to meet Donna so Harvey had invited her over even though his guts had told him that it wasn’t the right time. While leaving the building, Donna had felt like someone was watching her and had gone straight to Mozzie (Dante) for help. Mozzie had offered to keep an eye on Harvey’s building over the weekend and had given the lawyers instructions to stay safe.
The weekend had gone by without any alarming incidents, much to Harvey’s relief. He had kept his gun, cell phone, and Mike close to him at all times but nothing even remotely worrying had happened. Harvey had expected a call from Dante but hadn’t heard from him all weekend. Assuming that no news was good news, he decided on Monday morning that it was safe enough to get on with their lives. So he got dressed for work and rubbed the lamp in the study like any other workday.
Bang!
Harvey immediately grabbed the gun on the desk, only to realize that the loud sound had come from the lamp.
“Bravo, master! Quick as lightning! I feel totally safe with you.” Mike grinned and clapped as Harvey put down the gun with a death glare.
“That wasn’t funny, Mike! You pull that kind of crap again and I’ll keep the lamp locked in a secure place far away. Do you understand?”
Mike nodded and gave his fuming boss an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, Harvey. It won’t happen again. It’s just that you looked so tense all weekend and I felt bad for you. I figured that once something scares you, your adrenaline level will skyrocket and then you’ll come down from the high and finally get to relax.”
Harvey grunted as he breathed out a deep sigh of relief. His heart was still racing. “Just don’t do that again, okay?”
“Okay. I’m sorry.” Mike wrapped his windy arms around Harvey’s neck and Harvey allowed himself to get some comfort. He hadn’t got much rest during the weekend. He had kept telling himself that Donna must have been paranoid since the ‘specialist in all things illegal’ hadn’t reported anything suspicious, but it had still been difficult to sleep.
“Now that you’ve been properly scared, do you think you could take a nap? You can go in a little late, right?” Mike gently whispered in his master’s ear before his tone became more playful. “You hardly look your handsome self. They may not recognize you at work.”
Harvey had to laugh despite the fact that he was still upset about Mike’s prank. “I look that bad, huh?”
“Don’t worry, master. I still love you even when you look like this. I’m such a loyal genie.” Mike pulled back and Harvey tapped the tip of his associate’s nose, trying not to attach any importance to the words. Mike was a genie; he was supposed to love his masters.
“You think you can be a good boy and work hard even when I’m passed out in bed?” He was already in his suit and Ray was going to come and pick him up at any moment, but he suddenly felt extremely tired.
“Well, today’s my first day as your official associate! I’ve completed my three weeks of training, remember? So I’ve officially got your back when you’re unable to work.”
“Oh right.” Harvey had been too preoccupied with Mike’s safety that he had completely forgotten about it.
“Ah, your level of intelligence is dropping even further with the lack of sleep.” Mike clicked his tongue.
“You’ll be amazed at how my level of kindness drops with the lack of sleep.” Harvey couldn’t believe that someone had the audacity to tease him about his valuable brain.
“Well, then what are you waiting for? Off you go!” Mike pointed to the door as if Harvey was the puppy.
“I really don’t appreciate that gesture, Mike.” Harvey had meant to sound menacing but the yawn had ruined it.
Mike giggled while Harvey pulled out his phone to text Ray to come back later. “Hey, I think I’ll sleep better if you come and work next to me. I wouldn’t have to worry about you staying alone on the other side of the condo.”
Mike wanted to remind him once more that he would be fine but decided to do as he was told. Harvey looked tired enough already. “Okay, boss.” So he grabbed everything that he needed and let Harvey pick up the lamp.
“You could always make a wish for your own safety. That way, we’ll both be safe.” Mike suggested as he held on to his laptop and office supplies.
“I’ll think about it.” Harvey answered just so that they wouldn’t get into an argument. He had two wishes left but he was planning to wish for Mike’s health and freedom, so there weren’t any wishes left for himself.
“You know, I sing some mean lullabies.” Mike grinned as Harvey put him down on one side of the bed.
“Yes, I know that. Caffrey mentioned ‘the most creative and inspiring rendition of Rock-a-bye Baby’ in his notes.” Harvey replied while he got out of his suit and slipped under the covers.
“I was going to take a request but it seems like you’ve already made up your mind.” Mike warmed up his voice as he waited for Harvey to close his eyes but it never happened.
“Harvey, you’re supposed to listen to a lullaby with your eyes closed. I expected you to know that by your age.”
Harvey snorted. “Given how your warm-up is going, let’s just say that it’s not easy to close your eyes when you feel like your ears are going to get tortured.”
Mike bit back a fond smile as he turned on his laptop. Harvey must be feeling better already if he was exchanging banter with him. “I’ll make you weep with emotions, Harvey. Your ears are never going to embrace another song after today.”
“The point of singing a lullaby, Mike, is to make the baby stop weeping. I expected you to know that by your age.”
Mike laughed and savored the moment. They hadn’t had a fun conversation all weekend. It looked like things were going back to normal and he could certainly appreciate the ordinary and peaceful everyday life.
Noticing that Harvey had finally closed his eyes, Mike started to sing softly. The tired expression on his master’s face told him that he didn’t need a lullaby to fall asleep, but Mike wanted to help him as much as he could. So he poured his heart and soul into the lullaby with his eyes closed and arms raised to get the proper inspiration.
‘What in the world is this song…?’ Harvey’s eyes flew open to see if this was another prank. It had to be. Nobody could sing this badly on purpose. To say that he was off-key would be an understatement. If it weren’t for the lyrics, Harvey wouldn’t have been able to recognize the lullaby at all. The only thing that stopped him from plugging his ears was the sight of Mike singing so eagerly. He looked like a serious opera singer with his hands reaching out to the invisible audience.
‘Creative and inspiring? I guess ‘creative’ can be one word to describe this disaster, but inspiring? Really? In what twisted way could this inspire someone? Caffrey was either half-deaf or he was so in love with Mike that he went van Gogh on himself and became half-deaf.’ Harvey checked Mike’s face again to see if there really wasn’t a malicious grin somewhere, but he couldn’t see anything other than a determined genie with furrowed brows.
‘So when he said that he sang some mean lullabies, he actually meant mean lullabies.’ Then another possibility entered his mind. ‘Perhaps this is good singing for a genie. Maybe they naturally can’t sing.’
He would have teased his associate mercilessly if it wasn’t so bad. Amusement had turned into sympathy the minute he realized that Mike was serious. This wouldn’t do. He was going to teach Mike how to sing. His genie would go down as the best singer in the history of genies.
“Is there a problem, Harvey?” Mike wondered what was wrong.
“A problem? No. There’s no problem.” Harvey didn’t have the heart to tell him that his singing had scared his soul.
“Still having trouble falling asleep? You want me to sing you another one?”
Harvey became even more awake. “Uh, it’s okay, Mike. I don’t think I’m the type to fall asleep to lullabies. Thanks for trying though.” He added a soft smile.
“Nonsense. Everyone’s the type to fall asleep to lullabies. You might like this one better. It’s my personal favorite.”
The genie was about to slay another British lullaby when Harvey sprang up from the bed and instinctively closed the case. He had no other choice. He couldn’t let his handsome ears bleed again.
Mike was stunned, to say the least. Harvey had just kissed him. “What was that for?”
“To thank you for your efforts.” Harvey mumbled and lay back on the bed. “Wake me up in three hours.”
Mike let out a sound of surprise. “You can’t just drop a bomb like that and go to sleep! I thought we weren’t supposed to kiss each other! Or does that rule only apply to me?”
“I know my kiss must’ve felt like a bomb, Mike, but it wasn’t an actual bomb.” Harvey faced the other side of the room and closed his eyes.
“I’m painfully aware that you don’t know a thing about the English language, but that was just an expression!” Mike threw his arms in the air in frustration, not aware that the corners of Harvey’s lips had turned up. He hadn’t expected himself to kiss his associate but he certainly didn’t regret it.
Harvey had ended up working at home yesterday but he had to go to the office today. He had a client meeting that he couldn’t miss.
“Harvey, pleeease…”
And, of course, his associate was making things difficult for him when his job was to make things easy for him.
“I said no, Mike.” His puppy had been begging him to take the lamp with him, claiming that it was only logical for an official associate to see the place that he worked for.
“But you broke the rules yesterday! You have to pay for that! Besides, don’t you think that visiting Pearson-Hardman would help me get into the right mindset of a lawyer? It’s not that different from wearing a suit, really. It’s part of the job!”
Harvey thought about how he had pretty much kept the genie locked up at his place. Even though it was for his protection, he couldn’t shake off the feeling of guilt. He also didn’t want Mike to compare him to his previous employer who had taken him across borders and had literally showed him the world. “Fine, hotshot. But if we’re going to do this, you have to promise you’ll do exactly as I say.”
“When do I not do that?”
Mike saw Harvey turn around so he added, “Okay, okay, I promise. I’ll do whatever you say.”
“Good. You do not attract people’s attention, all right? The minute you do something silly, you’re going back inside the lamp.”
“Okay, I get it. Can we leave now?”
“No, not yet. You’re not going into my office with that skinny tie of yours.” Harvey took the lamp into the walk-in closet and put it on the floor.
“Choose something you like.” Harvey tried not to enjoy the fact that Mike was going to wear one of his ties when it wasn’t a Friday.
“What if you choose something for me, master?” For a split second, Mike saw the unmistakable excitement in his boss’ eyes. Of course.
“Really? You can’t even choose your own tie now? Do I have to help you with everything?” Harvey stepped forward and took a look at his proud collection.
Mike felt the urge to point out how Harvey’s eyes had lit up at the assignment but chose not to. His boss had gone through a tough few days so if he wanted to pick out a tie for his associate, he was going to let him do it his way. He was generous like that.
‘Am I the genie of the year or what?’ He thought smugly as he watched Harvey tilt his head at some of the ties in his hands. Mike had noticed that he tilted his head a lot. It made him look sassy and quite adorable. Mike’s hand moved on its own accord and patted Harvey’s head.
Harvey turned on his heel with a raised eyebrow. “Did you just pat me on the head? You’re the puppy, not me.”
“What if I did? There are no rules about patting you on the head. That wasn’t flirting.” Mike held his head high. He hadn’t done anything wrong even though Harvey’s eyes told him otherwise.
Harvey didn’t say anything and just looked him in the eye. It was getting harder and harder not to break his own rules. Mike often did something unexpected and Harvey absolutely loved those moments. He found mediocre opposing counsels boring mainly because their moves were so predictable. He thrived on challenges and facing opponents that had the guts and ability to throw him off his feet, so he could make full use of his arsenal and get a chance to push his limits. And, it seemed like Mike was that type of creature who could constantly surprise him.
“Are you going to help me put on that tie too?” Mike pointed at the tie in Harvey’s hand without breaking the eye contact.
“Of course. I don’t trust you with my fine ties.” Harvey wrapped the striped tie around Mike’s neck. He chose to ignore how Mike had just licked his lips, making them wet and shiny, and busied himself with the tie. He wasn’t going to break the rules again after only one day. He didn’t even want to think about what Mike would demand if he did.
“There you go.” Harvey announced in a hurry as Mike leaned closer to him. “Now grab your stuff and get inside the lamp. We’re leaving.”
“Okay.” Mike gave him a wistful smile and followed his orders. He could sense that it wouldn’t be long before Harvey broke a whole set of rules.
The trip to the office was quiet as Mike looked outside the windows in silence. Harvey had expected him to chat away like a little bird but again, Mike had managed to surprise him. The windows were dark and it was raining so Harvey figured that it was safe to let him watch what the city looked like during rush hour.
“Hey, you’re okay?” Harvey was getting worried at the utter silence in the car. Mike was never silent.
“Yeah. It’s just amazing.” Mike turned around and gave his boss a big, bright smile.
Harvey smiled back. “What’s so amazing?”
Mike’s smile turned into a playful grin. “Everybody looks so annoyed and unhappy. I think you’re the only one who’s happy to go to work. I guess it really is a special privilege to have a smart genie as your official associate.”
Harvey didn’t bother to deny it. He had painted the image of heading to work with Mike a few times in his mind and it was pleasant to see it come to life. “I think ‘happy’ is too much of a strong word.”
“But you’re grinning so hard that it’s difficult to find another word.” Mike teased. “And, don’t even think about telling me how I haven’t mastered the English language even when I’ve spoken it for centuries.”
Harvey bit his lower lip to prevent another lip-to-lip collision with his associate. He wondered if he would’ve found Mike’s smart mouth less charming, had he not had a profession that dealt with words.
“You know you want to.” Mike sat closer to Harvey and was about to put a hand on his face when he saw Harvey’s eyes grow wide with panic.
“Ray, look out!”
A big, black car crashed into Mike’s side of the car and Harvey realized that his driver couldn’t have heard anything over the partition. Mike instinctively hid inside the lamp while Harvey lowered the partition to check if Ray was all right.
“Boss! Are you all right? I’m sorry! That car came out of nowhere!”
Harvey didn’t have time to answer because someone threw Mike’s side of the door open and reached for the lamp. Harvey punched the guy in the face and tried to take off his ski mask but the feeling of a metallic object on the back of his head made him freeze. It was a gun. He saw out of the corner of his eyes that his driver was at gun point too. He could hear people screaming and hoped that someone had the good heart to call the police.
Harvey held up his hands and noticed that there were three people involved in this crime. ‘Ah, one wish per person, I see. As if it works like that.’
He resisted the urge to snort since he couldn’t get Mike back if he was dead after taunting the people in charge. He had a gun tucked in the back of his pants but it was too risky to try to pull it out. It wasn’t just his life on the line but Ray’s as well. So he watched helplessly as the man in front of him picked up the lamp from the floor.
All of a sudden, a loud cry echoed in the car. The man dropped the lamp and held his gloved right hand in horror. By the looks of it, it seemed like he had just suffered a third-degree burn.
Harvey’s eyes dropped to the lamp. The brass handle looked impossibly red. ‘Is that the self-protection mechanism?’
Now he really wanted to snort. ‘Couldn’t they, I don’t know, prevent the car accident or stop the owner of the lamp from being held at gunpoint in the first place?’
He thought about using the distraction to pull out his gun but was reminded of how Ray was defenseless in the driver’s seat. He had no idea how dangerous these men were, and a silly move from him might get his driver injured or killed.
‘We should’ve never left the house.’ He regretted as the injured man tried to kick the lamp into his bag this time.
“Ahhhck!”
Another cry left the man’s mouth as his right foot came in contact with the lamp. It looked like his leg had just got paralyzed. That gave him an idea to work with. He had always believed that there were 146 ways to get himself out of a situation like this, and he wasn’t the best closer in the city for nothing.
“Look, I’ll give you the manual on how to handle the lamp if you let my driver get to safety. I’m sure you’re all very protective of your limbs.”
“Shut up or I’ll make you.” The man behind him hissed in an Eastern European accent.
“Listen, here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to…”
“NYPD! Put your hands in the air!”
Apparently the police had been very close by. Harvey saw the two men on Ray’s side of the car flee the scene in their car. It seemed like there was only one cop who had come to their rescue and he could only handle the one that had been pointing a gun at him.
“Ray!” Harvey shouted when he noticed that his driver had passed out from the shock.
“Don’t worry. More help is on the way, Mr. Suit.” The cop reassured him as he put handcuffs around the criminal’s wrists.
“Dante Haversham?” Harvey turned around and looked at the cop who gave him a smile and knocked out the criminal with a spray. Then he gasped at the toy gun that was strapped onto the man’s belt.
“You could’ve done more harm than good with that impressive firearm of yours.” He couldn’t keep the accusing tone out of his voice.
“You’re welcome, Mr. Suit. You were about to do something stupid so I had no choice but to step in.”
“I wasn’t acting stupid. I was trying to negotiate. It was a perfectly rational move.”
But Harvey still extended his hand. He would very much like to shake the hand of the man who had saved his life, not to mention Ray and Mike’s. Mike would argue that he had been completely safe in his lamp but he didn’t want to hear about it. “Thank you.”
Dante shook the lawyer’s hand. “I’m sorry we didn’t meet under better circumstances, Mr. Suit. And, Donna was right. You’re almost as handsome as Neal.”
Harvey found himself almost as in shock as when he had a gun to his head. “Excuse me? Almost?”
“Excuse me, sir. Are you Mr. Specter?”
The conversation was interrupted by the real NYPD arriving on scene. Harvey made sure that they were real cops and not a bunch of thieves and answered their questions before turning his head to where Dante had been standing. The small man and his toy gun were long gone.
“Donna, nobody steps foot in my office. Not even Jessica.” Harvey ordered as he walked into his office with his briefcase and pulled down the blinds.
“Don’t worry, Harvey. I got it.” Her voice sounded determined over the intercom.
“And, make sure you keep Louis out of the office even when you’re not in your area. You do whatever it takes. If you have no other choice but to dump his body in the river, then do it. I’ll represent you and keep you out of jail.”
Donna wanted to make a joke but she knew that it wasn’t the right time. Mozzie had filled her in on what had happened and she was still horrified. “You and Mike will have your privacy. Do you want me to turn off the intercom?”
“Yes, please. Thank you.”
“No problem. I’m glad you’re safe, Harvey.” She was getting a little teary.
“I’ll be more careful next time.” Harvey’s chest tightened at her broken voice. “And, don’t you dare blame yourself for this. I don’t regret having Mike in my life so this has nothing to do with you. Plus, we’re both safe and sound.”
“Today, yes, you are. But who knows what’s going to happen next time?”
“Donna…”
“Harvey, I think you should wish for your own safety. You have two wishes left, right?” She didn’t care if she sounded like begging. She adored Harvey and would be damned to see him go down because of a lamp.
“You want me to burn and paralyze the wrong people who put a hand on me? Poor Louis. He already has such a miserable life.”
Donna laughed and Harvey thought that she sounded much better this way.
“I’m serious, Harvey. I bet Mike would agree with me.”
Harvey jerked his head to his briefcase at the mention of the genie. “Donna, I have to check if he’s all right.”
“Okay, kiss him on the cheek for me.” Donna turned off the intercom before her boss could protest.
Harvey quickly rubbed the lamp at his desk and was soon greeted with a lapful of genie.
“Oh, Harvey… Thank god you’re okay!” Mike wrapped his hands around his master and dug his forehead into his shoulder.
“Hey, I’m all right. How about you?” Harvey gently lifted Mike’s chin to check if he wasn’t too shocked. Ray had been shaken up pretty badly and had to follow the paramedics to the hospital.
“I’m fine. I was so worried about you.” Mike kissed Harvey’s cheek several times, not caring a bit about the stupid rules. “How about Ray?”
“He passed out but they said he’s going to be fine. I’ll have to give him the rest of the week off.” Harvey ran a soothing hand up and down his associate’s back.
“Shouldn’t you see a doctor too?” Mike leaned back into the touch and secretly enjoyed the intimacy that Harvey allowed him to share. Associates usually didn’t get to sit on their boss’ laps.
“I let the paramedics check on me and they told me I just needed to take it easy. I don’t need a doctor.” Harvey pressed his lips against Mike’s cheek, ignoring the rules as well. These were special circumstances and Donna had asked him to kiss him on her behalf.
“In case something like this happens again, I really think you should make a wish about your safety. You said you’d think about it and this looks like a great time to do that.” Mike advised in a serious tone.
“I just had this same conversation with Donna, Mike. And, since it looks like you’re going to keep pushing it, I’ll let you in on my plan. I’m planning to wish for your health and then to set you free, so there go all my three wishes.” Harvey explained casually because he really didn’t need any wishes for himself.
“But genies don’t even get sick!” Mike wanted to strangle the stupidity out of his master.
“But you will be if you choose to become mortal when I set you free.”
Mike froze. “Uh, I don’t think I’m ready to have this talk yet.”
“You’ve been trapped in there for centuries, Mike. You’re as ready as you’ll ever be.”
“It’s easy for you to say. You’re not the one who has to make the biggest decision of your incredibly long life.”
Mike tried to get off his boss’ lap but Harvey held him close. He knew that the genie could leave his arms if he wanted to, but he wanted to let him know that he was there for him. “Whether you go back to your land or become a human being, getting out of the lamp is the only way for you to be completely safe. You know that. I don’t want you to have to hide at the last minute after experiencing all kinds of accidents, Mike. You might be safe physically but you’ll remember everything that happened until right before you ducked into the lamp.”
Mike grew quiet. Neal had attempted to talk about this subject too but he had always been able to distract him. Usually a quick wriggle of his hips did the trick but that was off limits with Harvey.
“You don’t have to decide now. I just want you to start thinking about it. Talk to other genies and gather advice. Or have you already done that? You need to think about what’s best for you and not for your masters.”
The surprise was evident in the blue eyes. “But we exist to serve our masters.”
“I don’t care.” Harvey couldn’t resist kissing the top of Mike’s head. “I want you to be happy, Mike. And, that can only happen once you learn how to think about your own dreams.”
“Dreams? Like winning my first solo case?” Mike frowned. He rarely thought about dreams but when he had served Neal, he had wanted to be a better thief than him. Now that he had a lawyer master, it seemed like his dream had changed accordingly.
“That’s your dream? Winning your first solo case?” Harvey couldn’t decide if he was proud or frustrated. There was a good chance that Mike only chose that dream because he was with a lawyer right now. “You might like something else better. Saving people with your bleeding heart or teaching stupid mortals or…”
“I’ll start thinking about it, okay? Now can you drop the subject and give me a tour of the office?” The genie was clearly uncomfortable with this conversation.
Harvey nodded. He didn’t want to push Mike when they had just gone through a potentially dangerous situation. “Okay then. Let’s start with my balls.”
Mike let out an exaggerated gasp. “Your balls? I thought those were off limits! Have you changed your mind?”
Harvey made a face and picked up the lamp from the desk. “Let’s start with my basketballs.”
“All work and no play makes Harvey a dull boy.” Mike sang and Harvey was painfully reminded of his genie’s singing skills as he headed towards the windows.
‘He’s not going to be a singer, that’s for sure.’ He let Mike sit next to the balls and started to explain how he had acquired every single one of them.
They soon fell into a comfortable rhythm of asking, answering, and sharing a laugh, not aware that someone was watching them from outside the windows through the pouring rain.