The world's finest treasure [6/?]
Title: The world’s finest treasure
Pairing: Harvey Specter/Mike Ross
Other character: Donna
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 4,767
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters.
Warning: none
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 become Harvey’s trainee associate so Harvey had taken the lamp to the courthouse to let the genie watch and learn. He had also upgraded his security system in his condo to keep Mike safe but had kept refusing to get intimate with him. Mike had given his boss an incomplete hand job under the name of wrestling with the help of the air conditioner and had gotten grounded until further notice.
A week had passed since Mike had been grounded for pinning his master to the floor and giving him a hand job. Mike had sulked all weekend in his house, waiting for Harvey to rub the lamp and summon him but it didn’t happen until Monday morning. And, even then, the senior partner had only called him so that he would get down to work.
Harvey had looked genuinely upset so Mike had promised him that he wouldn’t make another move unless Harvey made it explicitly clear that he wanted him to. Mike had no doubt in his mind that Harvey would eventually crumble and give in to his unprecedented attraction (Yes, he was turning into his master.), so there was no need to make his boss feel too uncomfortable.
Today was a Friday, which meant that Mike was supposed to wear a wider tie, aka Harvey’s tie. Given the way that his master was looking at him, he could tell that Harvey had a thing for seeing him in something of his. Mike gave Harvey a small smile as he settled down in the study. Since three weeks of training were almost over, he was going to be an official employee of Pearson-Hardman by next Monday. Even though he hadn’t got the job through the appropriate channels, he enjoyed the legal work and hoped to make a decent career out of it. Harvey seemed to appreciate his work, and he loved to check Facebook and other social networking websites and see that the clients had become happier.
‘William would’ve hated the Internet though. I just know it.’ Mike chuckled as he fired up his laptop. He had never been more grateful for his eidetic memory. Without it, he didn’t think that he would have adapted so smoothly to so many different eras.
“I’m glad that you find the annoying process of booting up so amusing.” Harvey commented as he checked himself in the mirror one last time.
“Do you have a date or something? Why are you getting all dolled up today?” Mike thought that Harvey looked dashing. He always looked dashing and he knew it. Otherwise why would he have a mirror in the study?
“I’m a guy, Mike. I don’t get dolled up. One would think that you would’ve mastered the English language, having spoken it for many centuries.”
“You know, your date’s not going to like it if you act like someone has spilled milk on your favorite tie.”
Harvey turned around and gave his associate a suspicious look. “Did you spill milk on my favorite tie?”
“What? No! Why would I do that? Besides, since you apparently don’t know a thing about the English language, I should let you know that I didn’t mean it literally. It’s just an expression!”
Harvey brushed off Mike’s comment and picked up his briefcase. He was ready to go to work… except that he couldn’t stop stealing glances at the genie who looked dashing with his tie around his neck. If he could’ve had things his way, he would have tugged at the tie and kissed his associate ten minutes ago. But he was a man of strong will and he was going to walk out the door and head over to work. He could do this.
“I don’t have a date.” He blurted out as he watched Mike type something on his laptop.
“Hmm?” Mike briefly looked up to let Harvey know that he had his attention.
“I don’t have a date. I have a client meeting.” Harvey clarified. He didn’t want Mike to get the wrong idea even though they weren’t in a relationship.
“Okay. Good luck.” Mike smiled and got back to work. Harvey was acting weird this morning.
“Thanks.” Harvey returned the smile and took a few steps before facing Mike again. “You know the drill, Mike. Don’t let anyone in even if he looks exactly like me. If he doesn’t know the password, he could be a shape shifter for all we know. And, if you notice any suspicious activities in the hallway, you call the doorman so he can contact the police.”
“I got it, Harvey. Are we really going to do this every single morning? You know I have an eidetic memory so I won’t forget what you said. You also know that the con man that you hate so passionately has wished me to be safe, which means that I will be safe no matter what.” Mike had stopped using Neal’s name since it seemed to irritate Harvey so much.
“And, you know that I don’t trust that dubious wish making system. Whoever came up with it knew nothing about law.”
Mike laughed. Harvey was such a lawyer. “Just leave already, will you? I’ll call you if anything remotely suspicious happens, so you can get your cape out and fly here in two seconds.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, puppy. No superhero can cover that much distance in two seconds.”
Mike stopped typing. “Really? That’s the ridiculous part?”
“Of course.” Harvey kept his face straight. “Okay, I’m leaving now. I’ll check on you before lunch.”
The senior partner let out a sigh as he realized that it was getting more and more difficult to leave Mike at home. An image of Mike and him heading to work together came to his mind but he scared it away. He wasn’t going to let himself dream about something that wasn’t going to happen.
Mike was drinking his lunch potion in Harvey’s study when he ran out of paper clips. He usually needed one potion a day to keep up his strength but his workload was heavier than his balls, so he had started packing lunch since a few days ago.
‘Hmm, He must have new ones somewhere.’ Mike opened the second drawer since he already knew by memory that they weren’t in the first one. He had never looked in all of the three drawers because Harvey had put almost everything that he needed on the desk and also because he was a genie who had manners.
But now that he had moved on to the third drawer and found it locked, his curiosity was starting to get the better of him. ‘Maybe he keeps porn in here. He’d so be the type to keep it in the study, making the housekeeper think that there must be classified client files inside instead.’
Mike knew that if something was locked, it meant that nobody was supposed to unlock it without permission. He also knew that Harvey wouldn’t keep paper clips in a locked drawer. ‘I’ll just take a quick peep and lock it again. He doesn’t have to know.’
Picking a simple lock on a desk drawer wasn’t a problem for a genie of his caliber. He didn’t even need to snap his fingers. All he had to do was take a good look at the lock. He usually tried not to use magic and played down his ability because he didn’t want his masters to get greedy and ask him to perform magic whenever they pleased. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t use it every once in a while when the opportunity presented itself.
“Oops!” Mike made a fake sound of surprise and unlocked the drawer with his eyes. Much to his displeasure, there really were some files inside. ‘He’s not much fun, is he? But then, I guess you can’t have everything. It would be unfair to other people if he even understood what fun meant.’
Mike pulled out the file on top and opened it on his lap. There were some newspaper clippings neatly held together with paper clips.
‘At least I got my paper clips.’ He thought before his eyes caught Harvey’s name on the articles. ‘Ah, of course he made Donna collect all the articles that mentioned the great Harvey Specter. His ego must be stroked on a regular basis and what could be better than a salivating praise from the press?’
But then it struck him that something didn’t feel right. If Harvey was so proud of his achievements, why wouldn’t he put up some of the best articles on the wall? Why did he keep them locked inside a drawer? He lived alone and the odds of one of his dates snooping around his study were pretty low.
Mike decided to stop guessing and just read the articles. It should take him about twenty minutes to go through all of them. He glanced at the clock on the monitor and saw that he still had half an hour left until his lunch break was over. ‘Perfect. I’ll even have time to brush my teeth.’
The contents of the articles were quite shocking. Harvey had never mentioned that he had worked in the D.A’s office despite having had a stellar winning record. Mike didn’t have a clue as to why Harvey would hide such an important and brilliant part of his life. ‘Did something happen and he was forced to quit? Did one of the few cases he lost drag him down emotionally? Why did he start working for Pearson-Hardman when he was so good at his job? Just because he owed Jessica? Couldn’t he just pay her back with interest?’
Mike found himself thinking about all sorts of possible explanations until he found an interesting picture in one of the articles.
“Ahahaha…” He burst into laughter as a younger Harvey with blond highlights smiled at him.
‘Oh lord, what’s up with the hair? Why would he do that to himself? Was he going through a self-loathing phase? Gosh, I hope this wasn’t his version of fun. He looks like a virgin hipster!’
The genie read the title of the article once he had managed to come down from the shock: Young lawyer presents daunting ‘Specter’ for defendants. ‘Yep, he does look like a specter in here. What an accurate description…’
Then a fun idea occurred to him. ‘Oh, he’s going to love it. I can’t wait for him to get back home.’
“I’m home, puppy!” Harvey announced cheerfully as he locked the front door behind him. He knew that it should be awkward to call a creature that was much older than him a ‘puppy’, but he had no intention of stopping it any time soon. He simply enjoyed it too much.
“Hey! You’re home early!” Mike shouted from the study.
“Yeah, since the client meeting went well.” Harvey walked into the room and spotted a genie that looked far too amused for his liking. Something was up.
“What is it, Mike? You must’ve done something bad.” Harvey put down his briefcase on a chair next to the desk.
“When did I ever do anything bad? I’m just playing hearts, Harvey. I think I’ve got this one.” Mike tried not to giggle.
Harvey looked over Mike’s shoulder to check if he was really playing hearts. Indeed he was. He moved on to scan the surface of the desk to see if everything was in order. Much to his surprise, it was. Then he looked around the room to figure out what his associate had done until he saw it; an article from his ADA days framed and hanging on the wall.
“You went through my stuff? Very mature, by the way. Aren’t you too old for this kind of a prank?”
“Who says it’s a prank? A great picture like that should see the light! Let’s give your poor housekeeper a shot of endorphin. I think she deserves it. She keeps this place bloody spotless!”
“As it should be. How did you open the drawer anyway?”
Mike shrugged his shoulders innocently. “It wasn’t properly locked so when I tugged at it, it came out pretty easily. I was just looking for some paper clips.”
Harvey didn’t question him any further and just walked over to the article.
“Harvey, stop! I put in a lot of thinking to find the perfect spot! I used feng shui and everything!”
“It’s a memory that I don’t like to be reminded of, Mike. It was inside a locked drawer for a reason.” Harvey explained as he took the frame off the wall.
“Would you mind if I asked why?” Mike’s tone was cautious. He didn’t make a habit of opening old wounds.
“It’s not a good story. You wouldn’t like it.” Harvey put the article back where it belonged and slammed the drawer. Old feelings were coming back.
“Hey, whatever happened, I’m sure it wasn’t your fault. I know you, Harvey. You’re a good man and people rarely change.” Mike reached out and put a gentle hand on Harvey’s arm.
“Mike, an innocent man rotted in jail for years because of me. I don’t think good men cause that kind of a thing.”
“I hate to break it to you but you’re only human. As far as I know, all humans make mistakes.”
Harvey looked at his associate who was obviously trying to make him feel better. That was when he realized that Mike had loosened the tie around his neck. “I hope you gave my Prada tie the proper respect it deserves. I should’ve set up a hidden camera and seen it for myself.”
“Really, that’s what you want to talk about? Your endless fear of me mistreating your wide ties?”
“Yes. That is infinitely more important than the story about my twisted mentor.”
“Ah, Cameron Dennis.”
“How do you know his name?” Then Harvey nodded. “You read the other articles.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry. It’s just that you never mentioned working as an ADA and I wondered why.”
Harvey could tell that the genie was dying to hear the full story. And, if he had learned anything from spending a lot of time with him, the chances of Mike dropping the subject were astronomically low. “You’re going to sit prettily and listen, okay? Do not interrupt me in the middle.”
“You think I’m pretty?” Mike couldn’t help it. It was too tempting.
Harvey rubbed his temples as he closed Mike’s laptop and picked up the lamp from the floor. “What did I just say, Mike?”
“That I’m pretty. Don’t worry, Harvey. I’m not one of those guys who think that ‘pretty’ is an offensive word for a guy.” Mike reassured him with a bright smile.
“Of course you’re not.” Harvey left the room with the lamp and walked into the bedroom.
“Ooh, do I get to watch you change?” Mike asked excitedly.
“No, you don’t. But you get to listen.” Harvey left the lamp on the bed and patted the pouty cheeks.
“I can always crane my neck and peep inside the closet. You know how long my neck can be.”
“You do that and I stop the story right there.” Harvey warned him as he headed into the walk-in closet.
“Fine.” Mike didn’t like the arrangement but he could catch his master getting undressed some other time. “But just so you know, you can tell me if you got kicked out because of an unacceptable hairdo. I’ll try my best not to laugh.”
“Haha, very funny.”
Harvey started to tell him how the man who had taught him everything had tampered with evidence and how he had refused to testify against his mentor. He also told Mike that Cameron had planned to sell him out and that he had eventually freed the innocent man, thanks to a trick he had learned from the film ‘Mississippi Burning.’
“So Donna and Jessica saved your career.” Mike summed it up when Harvey emerged from the closet. It hadn’t been easy to follow the storyline because he was too busy straining his ears to listen to Harvey dropping his suit. But fortunately, he was a genius who was capable of multitasking.
“I didn’t need them to fight my battles. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”
“I never said you couldn’t. But everyone can use a helping hand every once in a while. I think I’d really like to meet Donna now. She sounds fantastic.”
Harvey froze in the middle of taking off his watch. Suddenly it didn’t feel right to introduce Mike to Donna. “You’re not ready yet.”
“Uh, I appreciate the concern, Harvey, but I think I’d know best if I’m ready or not.” Mike crossed his arms over his chest to emphasize his point.
Harvey wondered how he could convince Mike that his guts told him it wasn’t the right time. He wished that he had a logical explanation but it was called ‘gut feeling’ for a reason. ‘Perhaps I’m overreacting. What could possibly go wrong? Mike gave me his words that Caffrey’s wish would protect him from any kind of danger. Besides, Caffrey took him out to a lot of places and nothing seemed to have happened. We’re not even going out. Donna’s coming in. It should be fine.’
So ignoring the slight discomfort in his gut, he found himself asking, “How does tomorrow afternoon sound to you?”
The next day, Donna was pulling out a big bag from the passenger seat with a smile that matched the size of the bag. Truth be told, she hadn’t expected Harvey to let her see Mike so soon. If the unusually low voice on the phone was any indication, he didn’t seem too happy with the invitation but was going along with it for the genie’s sake. ‘It’s not like I’m going to let Mike fall for me. He’s the master! I wouldn’t do that to him!’
She locked her car and approached her boss’ building, carrying the bag that contained gifts for Mike. She normally didn’t prepare any gifts unless there was something to celebrate, but it couldn’t hurt to get on the good side of a magical creature. It wasn’t like she expected Mike to snap his fingers and fix something for her. She didn’t need that kind of help; she had enough astonishing powers herself. But she believed in karma, and offering a benign genie a couple of presents seemed like a good way to earn some karma points.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Harvey asked once more as the doorman informed him that his secretary was on her way up.
“Jesus, Harvey. I’m almost willing to say no just to shut you up. I would’ve preferred to shut you up with a kiss but you’d get all grumpy and growl ‘Inside. Now’.” Mike completed his act by pointing at the lamp and mimicking Harvey’s voice.
“You know what. Now that I think about it, I made a terrible mistake when I made you my associate. You were obviously born to be a comedian.”
“Gosh, Harvey. Do you ever listen to me? I wasn’t born. I was created!”
“That’s not the point.”
“But you still got it wrong. And, here I thought you actually listened to what I said.” Mike clicked his tongue.
“Can you do me a favor and not click your tongue like that? You sound like a senior citizen.”
“Wow, how politically correct you are even when you’re insulting me. No wonder everyone falls for your charms.”
“Aww, I see that you two are already bickering like an old married couple.” Donna stepped out of the glass elevator with a smiling face. She had always wished that her dear boss would find someone special, and it looked like her powers were so great that the wish had been granted even without a lamp.
“Hello, I’m Mike. What a pleasure to meet the one person in the world who can stand Harvey Specter.” The genie bowed before taking Donna’s hand and kissing it.
“In case your previous employer didn’t fill you in, we don’t really greet women like that anymore.” Harvey pointed out as he took the bag from his secretary.
“Hey, let the man enjoy the freedom of treating me like a lady.” Donna protested in a light tone and took a good look at Mike. He was truly a beautiful creature.
The genie gulped and grabbed Harvey’s arm. The female human was making him slightly nervous.
“It’s okay. She might look at you with hungry eyes but she’s not actually going to eat you.” Harvey hoped that his playful tone would offer him some comfort.
“He’s right. I wouldn’t dare touch what’s Harvey’s. Now would you be interested in finding out what I got you?” Donna sat on the couch and pointed at the bag that was now sitting on the coffee table.
“That’s for me?” Mike was clearly interested as he extended his neck and looked inside the bag.
‘Ooh, very flexible. Harvey’s going to appreciate it.’ She enjoyed a good girly laugh inside. Nobody had to know this side of hers.
Soon, Mike forgot that he had been nervous. He pulled out a fine tea collection, a six thousand pieced jigsaw puzzle of his favorite castle, the Château de Versailles, and a portable fan.
Both Harvey and Mike’s eyes shot up to Donna who gave them a knowing grin, “That was the strongest one I could find.”
Mike glared at Harvey for sharing such intimate details of their failed intimate moment, but Harvey was too busy glaring at Donna to notice. There was only one way that the woman could have known about the connection between Mike and the wind. She must have had access to the secret compartment in his office.
‘I shouldn’t have left my notes in there. But that’s the point of having a secret compartment! It’s supposed to be safe!’ He had started to keep a record of what was going on with the genie in case Mike got a new master after him. He wanted the next person in charge to take good care of the special creature.
Harvey felt the urge to give Donna a long lecture about privacy, but a part of him knew that she wouldn’t have violated his privacy if she hadn’t thought that it was absolutely necessary. ‘So for some reason, she thinks that it’s vital for me to sleep with him. That’s terrific. As if Mike needs any help in bringing me down to my knees.’
Harvey let out a groan and Donna took it as her cue to break the ice. “Would you like to try the tea?”
After hours of laughing and telling Mike about all the silly things that her boss had done, Donna was leaving the building with an even bigger smile on her face. Not that she hadn’t trusted Harvey to find the right one but it was extremely satisfying to see Mike for herself. He had all the good qualities one would look for in a man and the only flaw she could find was that he was too desirable. Genie or not, she imagined that Harvey would have a hell of a time keeping him all to himself.
Donna opened the door to her car and was about to get in when she felt like someone was watching her. She quickly looked around to see if someone was actually looking at her but there were only a few people nearby. Unfortunately, she trusted her sixth sense to a great extent. ‘Oh my god, maybe someone’s following me. Or they figured out that Harvey has the lamp.’
She pulled out her cell phone as soon as she got inside the car and locked the door. But it occurred to her that the thieves might have hacked her phone. So she casually checked if there were any new messages and put the phone back in her purse. She thought about pretending that she had left something upstairs and going back to warn Harvey, but it might look suspicious even with her talented acting. There was only one safe option that she could think of. She had to ask for Mozzie’s help.
Driving towards Mozzie’s weekend hideout, Donna’s mind was flooded with worries. Did someone find out that she had once been in possession of the lamp? Was she in danger? Did she put Harvey in harm’s way for the sake of the treasure? Had she been naive enough to believe Mozzie when he had told her that nobody would get hurt?
Donna rarely doubted herself but it seemed like a good moment to evaluate her decision. She didn’t think that she would be able to forgive herself if something happened to Harvey. ‘Perhaps I should’ve refused when Mozzie tried to give it to me. But he said that it was the world’s finest treasure! Who else would be capable of taking good care of it? Harvey should be perfect for such a unique creature.’
What was done was already done. There was no way to go back to the past and try out a different scenario. Donna knew that she had to focus on retracing her steps so that she would never have this sickening feeling in her stomach again. ‘I made sure that the HR team wouldn’t reveal any information. I told them that Harvey’s fiercely protective of his entourage and that none of them would want to meet him in court.’
Donna made a right turn as she felt relieved to have dirt on every single one of those employees. Then she made another right turn and looked at the rearview mirror. She had never been happier that Mozzie had taught her how to check if anyone was following her. Whoever had watched her apparently wasn’t following her, which meant that he could still be around Harvey’s place. She had to see Mozzie now.
Mike was working on his puzzle in the middle of the living room when Harvey got a call on his cell phone from a blocked number. He thought about not answering it but the strange feeling in his gut was back. So he put his index finger against his lips when Mike looked up and answered the phone, “Hello.”
“Good afternoon. Am I speaking with Mr. Harvey Specter?”
“Yes, you are. Who’s asking?” Harvey loosened his grip on the phone. The caller didn’t sound intimidating. He had just wished him a good afternoon.
“This is Dante Haversham, Donna’s friend from the book club.”
Blood drained from Harvey’s face. “Is she okay? She was fine till an hour ago.” He cursed himself for not checking if she had made it safely back home.
“Oh, Donna’s fine. In fact, she’s worried that you may not be fine. That’s the purpose of this non-existing call, Mr. Suit. As far as you and I are concerned, this call has never happened.”
“Understood.” Harvey knew when to trust an expert.
“So the lady told me that she felt like she was being watched right after she came out of your building. Just in case she was right, I’ll keep an eye on your building over the weekend.”
“I thought the lamp was going to be safe no matter what.” Harvey kept Mike in his sight as he gripped the phone again.
“That is true. But unfortunately that doesn’t mean you are going to be safe as well, Mr. Suit.”
“I can take care of myself. I box.”
“I have no doubt in my brilliant mind that you can defend yourself. I’ve read about your life, Mr. Suit. But let me do my job and see if there’s anyone questionable hanging around. You can’t stand in front of your door with your boxing gloves all weekend.”
“Listen, you do whatever you want to do with your weekend but make sure she’s safe. If anything happens to her, anything, I’m going to hold you responsible and find a way to put you in the cell next to Caffrey’s, okay? Since you’ve read about me, I’m sure I don’t have to remind you of my excellent track record.”
A whiny sound came through the phone. “I strongly disapprove of your threats, Mr. Suit. I’m merely trying to help. Now it’s your turn to listen. I’d like to give you some instructions to keep your happy home safe.”
Harvey put the phone on speaker so that Mike would remember all the information. If help was being given, he probably shouldn’t refuse it.