Suits Fic: Time Unfolds 1/1
Title: Time Unfolds (Part 6 of 6 of Fate's Decree series)
Author: in_the_bottle
Fandom: Suits
Rating: PG-13 (~4,500 words)
Summary: Five moments in the lives of Mike Ross and Harvey Specter. Missing scenes from the Fate's Decree universe, in reverse chronological order. Really won't make ANY sense at all if you haven't read the previous fics.
Disclaimer: Not mine, no profit made.
Warning: Minor character death.
Notes: Some of this was written as I wrote the main fics in the series, some were scenes that were cut because they didn't fit the flow of the main fics, and others were bits and pieces that came to me at random times. I was going to leave posting this till a bit later, but I wanted to finish posting the series before the year ends, and since I'll be out most of tomorrow and busy packing during the night to leave at 5:30am on Xmas Eve for my holiday, I don't know when I'll get a chance to post this before new year's if I don't do it now. So, here it! Early Xmas gift you all! Many thanks again to slashybits for beta.
Feedback: Yes! Yes! YES!!! Please?
Five
It was some time past midnight when Jo showed up at Harvey's hospital room, looking as tired as Mike felt.
"How's he doing?" she asked quietly.
"Still out, but the surgery went well," Mike answered in an equally soft tone. "He'll need some P.T. once he's healed up enough, but everything should be back to normal in a few months."
"It was crazy in the ER this evening, but I wanted to give this to you before I left," Jo said, handling over a large plastic bag that Mike recognised as the bags they used for storing patient's personal belongings.
"Thanks."
"I'd stay for a bit, but I'm pretty much dead on my feet, you staying the night?"
"Yeah," Mike replied. "Go home, Jo. I'll probably see you tomorrow."
Jo was halfway out the door before she turned around, looking contemplatively at Mike.
"Mike, I'm not sure if it's my place to say this, especially since I haven't a clue what happened between the two of you," she indicated to Harvey's sleeping form. "But I think you should give him another chance. I haven't seen you as happy as you've been when you're with him, and that has to mean something. Don't make the same mistake I did with my ex." Jo didn't wait for Mike's reply before she left.
Mike stared at the closed door for over a minute before he opened the bag Jo left him. As expected, Harvey's clothes were simply thrown into the bag without any thought or care. Slowly, Mike took each item of clothing out and carefully folded them. They were already horribly wrinkled, but it gave Mike something to do other than to sit and stare at Harvey, trying to figure out how they could go back to how they were before everything went to hell.
Dress shirt, tie, suit jacket now all sat in a folded pile on top of the second visitor's chair next to Mike's own. Mike was just trying to smooth out a crease in Harvey's pants when he felt something in one of the pockets. Reaching in, Mike found in his palm the platinum snail cufflinks Mike had given Harvey for their first Christmas together all those years ago.
Frowning, Mike grabbed Harvey's shirt from the pile to double check. As Mike remembered, the silver Armani cufflinks were still attached to one side of the sleeves.
Looking at Harvey's unconscious figure on the bed, Mike felt a lump formed in his throat. How long had Harvey been carrying the cufflinks around with him? Mike knew Harvey loved the cufflinks and wore them frequently, but to carry them around when he wasn't wearing them... Mike wasn't sure how he felt about that piece of information.
Carefully, Mike pocketed the cufflinks and finished folding the pants, putting it on top of the pile.
"What am I going to do with you?" Mike asked aloud, surprised to find his voice slightly choked. "Do you have any idea how much I love you? That the thought of being with anyone else other than you actually makes me feel sick?" Mike took a breath, eyes not wavering from Harvey. "I could forgive the accusations. Hell, I could even understand where they came from, but when you brought up Trevor..." Mike trailed off, shaking his head and closing his eyes.
After hearing Harvey's messages and finding the cufflinks, there was no doubt that Mike was still deeply in love with Harvey, which was what made things so hard because Mike wasn't sure if he could let himself trust Harvey again. "I don't know if I can ever be happy without you," he murmured. "I don't even know if I remember how to do this whole living thing without you."
Standing up, he took the three small steps that brought him right next to Harvey's hospital bed. Looking down at the unconscious figure on the bed, Mike felt himself aching to touch Harvey again, to be with him. He gave into the desire and climbed onto the bed. Careful not to disturb any of the tubes and wires that Harvey was hooked up to, Mike gently rearranged Harvey's right arm and lay his head on Harvey's chest, breathing in his familiar scent, finally feeling at home after three weeks of pure hell.
"You have a whole load more of grovelling to do before I'm ready to forgive you," Mike muttered, looking up at the oblivious Harvey, and knowing in his heart that he would eventually forgive him because he'd had a taste of the alternative; living his life without Harvey, it was a bleak existence, and if he was being completely honest with himself, not really a path he wanted to go down. Suddenly, Mike realised what he should've probably done years ago, what Grammy had wanted him to do before she passed. "I think I've at least figure out how to get rid of that insecurity issue of yours," Mike said, closing his eyes and laying back down. "It might be doing things a bit backwards, proposing to you before I forgive you, but we've never really give a shit about what's normal, have we?"
For the first time since the night he walked out of their apartment, Mike had no trouble falling asleep.
Four
Harvey had been the one who picked up the phone when it rang at four thirty in the morning on Tuesday. It was the night duty nurse at Edith's nursing home and even before she said anything, Harvey knew it was going to be bad news.
The nurse calmly but sympathetically told him that Edith had passed away in her sleep an hour ago. Harvey thanked her for the call and spent the next ten minutes just staring at Mike, peacefully sleeping next to him, oblivious.
Edith's health had been slowly but steadily going down hill in the last several months. Dr Myer had told them weeks ago to be prepared and undoubtedly, Edith herself must have known it was just a matter of time, because less than two days ago she had pulled Harvey aside during their Sunday visit and made Harvey promise that he'd take care of Mike when she was gone.
But how could anyone be prepared for the death of a loved one? Even when you knew that it was inevitable, it somehow still came as a surprise when it happened. Or at least, that's how Harvey was feeling.
Harvey only had some very vague memories of his own maternal grandmother who died when Harvey was six. He never knew his other grandparents; they had all passed before he was born. In the almost four years that they've known each other, Edith Ross had treated Harvey like he was her own grandson, and Harvey had slowly began to view her as his own grandmother, he'd even followed Mike's lead and started calling her Grammy, much to Edith's delight.
After years of being estranged from his own parents, Harvey cherished the parental nature of his relationship with Edith; her wicked sense of humour and their shared love and concern for Mike bonding them together. Harvey had been too young to really understand what was happening when his own grandmother died, now while the knowledge of Edith's passing was permanently lodged in his brain, all he felt was a sense of numbness, a vacuum where emotions should be, an overwhelming sense of...nothing.
"Mike," Harvey gently shook Mike's shoulder. "Mike, wake up," he said softly, still unsure as to how he was going to break the news to Mike, but knowing that he can't delay it any longer.
"Huh?" Mike blinked sleepily at Harvey, eyes trying to adjust to the light from the bedside lamp Harvey had turned on earlier.
"The nursing home rang," Harvey started, and that was enough to get Mike's full attention.
"Grammy?" Mike asked, immediately alert and sitting up.
Harvey took a deep breath, preparing to deliver the bad news, but it turned out that he didn't even have to say anything. Whatever it was in his expression was enough for Mike to tell what Harvey couldn't say out loud.
"No, Harvey, she can't...No," realisation turned into devastation in a blink of an eye even as Mike denied the truth.
"Mike, I'm sorry," Harvey said, reaching out to pull an unresisting Mike into his arms, feeling hot tears soaking through his well worn night-shirt. "I'm so sorry."
At the back of his mind, Harvey went through the list of things that needed to be done, calling both his and Mike's work to get some time off, sorting out funeral arrangements, and getting in touch with Edith's lawyer to sort out her personal affairs, and those were just the beginning.
Harvey knew Mike would be in no shape to deal with any of it, losing the last of his family, especially someone as special as Edith who had practically raised Mike, Harvey couldn't even imagine what Mike must be feeling. Not for the first time, Harvey thanked Ray for dragging him to the hospital that faithful night more than four years ago. Because the idea of Mike having to go through this alone, of Harvey not being here for Mike, was unthinkable, and suddenly, Harvey felt a crushing sense of loss that seemed to have come out of nowhere, filling the previously void space.
Dawn would come soon enough when Harvey will have to deal with the practicalities and Mike would have to face a new day in a world without Grammy. But for now all Harvey did was hold Mike tighter against him as they mourned in private.
Three
"Relax," Harvey said as they prepared to leave the condo. "It's only a dinner."
"Easy for you to say!" Mike replied, still trying to find his wallet. "Are you sure this is all right? Not too casual?" he asked again, because really, jeans and button down shirt seemed just a tad too casual for something as big as this.
"We have agreed that I'm the fashion expert in this relationship right?" Harvey asked, and Mike knew without even looking, that Harvey was probably rolling his eyes in frustration.
"Yeah, but - "
"Mike, it's only dinner with my brother and his wife."
"Easy for you to say," and seriously, where did he left his wallet? It was normally either on the kitchen counter, or on the bedside table, but he'd check both spots already, and a third trip back into the bedroom yielded the same result, no wallet in sight.
"In the study," Harvey called out from the living room.
"Right," Mike said to himself, suddenly remembering he'd brought it into the study to activate his new credit card using the desktop computer last night since Harvey was working on the laptop. And there goes his delay tactic.
"Don't think you can put this off, Mike. If I managed to survive your grandmother on Christmas, you'll live through dinner with Charlie and Janice. They are nowhere as scary as your Grammy," and of course Harvey saw right through his plan.
"For you, maybe. Grammy's a perfectly nice little old lady," Mike replied, slipping his wallet into the back of his jeans as he walked out of the study.
"I don't even think you believe that," Harvey snorted, opening the front door and waving Mike out.
Half an hour later, they were seated in a busy Chinese restaurant in the middle of Chinatown with Mike staring at Charlie Specter.
"Are you sure you're not twins? Or did Harvey work out a way to clone himself and didn't tell me?" Mike blurted, knowing how stupid he sounded but yet couldn't help himself. Other than the lack of moles near his eyebrows and being slightly shorter than Harvey from what Mike could tell when he stood up to shake hands, Charlie looked so much like Harvey that it was almost eerie.
Charlie and Janice laughed at Mike's comment and Harvey glared.
"Seriously, don't tell me you haven't been mistaken for twins before," Mike said, his nervousness forgotten. Mike had never seen two siblings who looked so much like each other as Harvey and Charlie.
"He's four years younger than me, it was pretty obvious as kids that I was older."
Charlie shrugged. "Besides, Harvey's always the sporty one, he's usually out and about while I'm either at home or at the library being a geek."
"Nothing wrong with being a geek," Janice said with a smile, pouring tea for all of them.
"Yeah, Harvey's a pretty big one," Mike said. "But I guess you already know that."
"Hey!" Harvey protested, but before he could say anything further, a waiter appeared to take their order.
"So, Mike, you trust us?" Charlie asked, putting down the menu he was idly flipping through earlier.
"Don't worry about him, he'll eat anything you put in front of him," Harvey said, smirking at Mike.
"Hey!" It was Mike's turn to protest, but... "Harvey's not wrong," he admitted sheepishly.
Charlie laughed, and then preceded to order god knows what in what Mike could only assume was perfect Mandarin, given their waiter's expression of surprise.
"Living in China has its advantages," Charlie said after their waiter collected their menus and left with their orders.
"Charlie's always been good at languages," Janice said. "We spend the same amount of time in China, and I could barely say hello and ask for directions. I can understand most of what's being said, but my pronunciation is absolutely disastrous."
"It is one of the toughest languages to learn, so I've read," Mike said, sipping the still hot tea.
"Speaking of languages," Charlie began with a smile that Mike would classify as evil if it appeared on Harvey. "Did Harvey told you about the time he tried to learn Elvish after reading Tolkien?"
Mike could feel his eyes widened in surprise, and the groan from Harvey next to him only served to confirm the truth of Charlie's claim.
"Dude, seriously?!" Mike turned to stare at Harvey in amused disbelief.
"I was fifteen! And they sounded cool," Harvey sounded petulant.
"In what universe does learning Elvish made you cool when you were fifteen?" Mike asked, starting to enjoy himself. Maybe this whole meeting with the family thing wasn't so bad after all.
Two
"He used my can opener for his tuna!" It would've been the understatement of the year to say that Harvey was exasperated. "My can opener!"
The fact that Mike was laughing at him did not help.
They were at Harvey's condo, Harvey having just got home from a late night at work preparing for a trial the next day and Mike had decided to spend the night so they could see each other since he had a late shift the next day and the longer commute wouldn't be an issue.
"It's not funny!" Harvey said, loosening his tie as he stepped into the bedroom, with Mike following.
"From where I'm sitting? Yes it is," Mike replied in between bouts of snickering laughs, making himself comfortable on the bed as Harvey changed.
"It's my pre-trial can opener! I've never used it, Donna's never used it, and now Harold the Conqueror decides to use it on his tin of imported tuna! It's now tainted, Mike. Tainted! How can I be sure that it'll still work for tomorrow's trial?"
It was a serious issue, but Mike seemed to laugh even harder at Harvey's every word. "Stop laughing! I have a serious problem here!"
"Harvey, it's a can opener. Get a new one."
"Get a new one?!" Harvey couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Get a new one?! One can't just get a new can opener!"
"Why not? People do it every day," Mike said, still way too amused over Harvey's suffering.
"It's not just any random can opener we're talking about here! It's The Can Opener, you can't just assign any random can opener to be The Can Opener, it doesn't work that way."
Harvey hung up his jacket and tie in the closet before turning around to make his way back to Mike, who was still laughing at him. "It's not funny!" Harvey repeated, feeling a smile threatening to make an appearance at the sight of Mike's clear amusement, even if it was at Harvey's expense. He flopped down onto the bed next to Mike, not caring that he was still in his shirt and suit pants. "God, I swear I must've suffered a moment of temporary insanity to have hired him."
Mike twisted around to face Harvey, his left elbow resting on the mattress with his head propped up by his hand. "Why exactly did you hire Harold anyway? All you do is complain about how incompetent he is, and if he's really that bad, why haven't you fired him?"
"He's..." Harvey started only to stop when Mike's question fully registered in his mind. Why hadn't he fired the kid?
"He's...?" Mike prompted, raising a questioning eyebrow at Harvey.
"He's a socially awkward geek with no social skills but he's got a pretty good brain in his head," Harvey finally admitted.
"So, he reminded you of yourself?" Mike teased.
"Hey, I was never socially awkward and have plenty of skills, social and otherwise," Harvey protested, but Mike wasn't too far off if Harvey was being completely honest.
"Just the 'geek' thing then?" Mike smirked, knowing he'd got Harvey with that one. "So what did he do? Made a Star Trek reference at the interview?"
Harvey must've given something away despite not saying a word because Mike's eyes widened. "Oh my god! You totally hired him because he actually made a Star Trek reference at the interview!"
"If I have to hire someone out of the mass of dull, carbon copy, predictable, boot licking drones..."
"You might as well get someone who appreciates the virtues of Captain Kirk," Mike finished his sentence, laughing. Again.
"That's the thing," Harvey sighed. "I don't even think he likes Kirk. And he's more like... Harry Kim," Harvey scowled as Mike continued to snigger. "Oh, shut up!" Harvey pulled a pillow from behind him and tossed it in Mike's face.
It only made Mike laughed harder.
One
It was almost nine at night by the time Mike woke up to find Harvey camped out in his living room in the middle of what looked like a Star Trek marathon. He was feeling vaguely more human after the close to nine hours of uninterrupted sleep he'd had, but his stomach was reminding him that the last proper meal he'd had was almost 24 hours ago at the Pearson Hardman Christmas dinner the night before.
"Oh man, that smells so good, whatever it is you have in that pot," Mike said, shuffling out sleepily from his bedroom still yawning, knowing that his hair was probably sticking up in various directions. He briefly wondered how Harvey had managed to cook up whatever it was he had cooking with half a carton of milk, some eggs, and leftover blue cheese he had in the fridge.
"Slow cook lamb stew," Harvey answered, hitting pause on the DVD remote control. "Did you know you had absolutely nothing to eat in your entire apartment?" He got up from the couch and made his way to the kitchen.
"I don't have the time or the energy to cook. Besides, I spend so much time at the hospital, it's just easier to eat there," Mike shrugged. "God, it smells even more amazing up close."
"Sit down. I'll get you some. I don't even want to know when was the last time you actually ate."
"I think I managed to scoff a banana sometime early this morning during one of my two-minute quest for more caffeine," Mike admitted even as his stomach made it known to the world that it wanted food. "I didn't know you can cook," Mike commented as Harvey set a bowl of stew in front of him. "Not having any?" he asked when Harvey sat down at the dining table with just a bottle of beer.
Harvey shook his head. "I ate earlier. And I find cooking can sometimes be relaxing."
"Really?" Mike asked.
"I just picture the faces of everyone who annoyed me on whatever it was I wanted to chop up and go at it. Though I have to admit, most of the time the punching bag at the gym is a bit more effective," Harvey shrugged.
Taking a bite of the stew, the flavour of the meat, herbs and god knows what else exploded across Mike's tongue and he let out an involuntary moan at the taste. "Oh my god, what the hell did you put in this thing?!" Mike didn't wait for Harvey's reply before eating another spoonful of the stew.
"A whole load of stuff that couldn't be found in your kitchen," Harvey smirked, leaning back in his chair and taking a sip of the beer, clearly enjoying the sight of Mike wolfing down his creation. "It'll taste even better after a day or two in the fridge."
"You're kidding."
"I don't kid about my food. Want seconds?" Harvey asked after Mike cleared his bowl.
Mike wordlessly held out his bowl, probably looking pathetically like Oliver Twist or something, but Harvey only smiled as he took the bowl and refilled it.
It took even less time for Mike to polish off the second bowl as well, by the end of which he was awake enough to realise he probably shouldn't go for thirds unless he wanted to make himself sick.
"So," Mike started, looking at Harvey who was finishing his beer. "You're rich, have impeccable taste in fashion, and can cook. Anything else I should know about?"
Pushing the empty beer bottle aside, Harvey leaned over the dining table, grinning. "Why don't you find out?"
Mike couldn't help it, he burst out laughing, "Please tell me that line don't actually work?"
"What's wrong with it?" Harvey looked put out by Mike's reaction.
"Oh, let me count the ways. One, it's cheesy. Two, it's clichéd, and three, have I mentioned cheesy? Besides," Mike added with a small smile. "You don't need lines with me."
"Don't I?"
"Nope," Mike replied, feeling his heart rate picking up at what he was about to suggest. "I know last night didn't exactly end as either one of us had planned."
"You had plans?"
"And I'm pretty sure you had some plans of your own too."
"Just a few ideas."
Mike felt his breathing getting heavier; the air between them seemed to crackle with anticipation. "Want to catch me up on them?" he asked, pushing his chair back and standing up, holding out a hand.
Harvey mirrored Mike's move and accepted his hand. "I thought you'd never ask."
Mike pulled Harvey into a stew and beer flavoured kiss before dragging him back into his room. Harvey had waited six months for this, and Mike wasn't going to disappoint him.
Zero (Bonus)
"Paris! Oh my god, I'm in Paris! I'm in actual proper Paris!"
Harvey watched with an indulgent smile as Mike buzzed around their hotel suite like he'd drunk a carton of Red Bull, flinging open the curtains to reveal the Eiffel Tower in all its glory before them. Harvey had gone through quite a bit of trouble to find the perfect hotel with a room that had a clear view of the tower, and the absolutely delight on Mike's face at the sight that greeted him was more than worth the effort.
"I can't believe you refused to tell me where we were going for our honeymoon until we were at the airport," Mike said as he flopped down beside Harvey on the extremely comfortable couch facing the window. "And made me think we were going to Iowa for our honeymoon."
"You came up with Iowa all by yourself," Harvey argued. "I neither confirmed nor denied it."
"Come on, you said it was going to be sci-fi related, Iowa was the birth place of Captain Kirk, how much more sci-fi can you get?"
"'There can be only one.'" Harvey quoted. "They filmed Highlander in Paris, so I wasn't lying when I said it was sci-fi related," Harvey continued, smiling as Mike rested his head against his shoulders, the both of them looking out at the night view of Paris. "Its not called the most romantic city in the world for nothing and I know we've talked about traveling Europe for a while, I figured what better time to do it, right?"
"That's why you wanted me to take three months off?"
"What else did you think we were going to do in three months?" Harvey asked, amused.
He felt Mike shrugged. "I hadn't really thought about it."
"Liar," Harvey accused affectionately, pulling Mike closer against him. "Every minute that you weren't freaking out about your PhD or the wedding, you were obsessed with trying to figure out what I had planned."
"Ok, fine," Mike said. "Now that we're here, care to tell me what exactly you have planned?"
"Beyond Paris? Nothing," Harvey admitted. It had been fun watching Mike coming up with his increasingly ridiculous guesses.
"Nothing?" Mike untangled himself to sit up properly, looking incredulously at Harvey. "You mean you haven't booked hotels in 10 other cities with detailed day to day and hour to hour itinerary drafted up?"
"Nope. We can stay in Paris for the entire three months if you like, or we could do the whole two days in each city across Europe if you want."
"And what if I say we ditch Europe and head over to... I don't know, Japan or India?"
"Then I'd suggest you make use of the free wi-fi, check out their visitor visa requirements and book us a flight there," Harvey replied, nonchalant. All Harvey wanted to do was spend time with his new spouse, he really didn't care where they were, just as long as they were away from any work obligations.
Both of them had been focused on their careers throughout their relationship, so much so that it almost destroyed them. Now that Mike had completed his fellowship and had officially passed his PhD, Harvey had been more than happy to take his accumulated annual leave and have a proper holiday.
Their wedding two days ago had been a simple affair at the registrar's office followed by a nice dinner reception at the Ritz-Carlton, Central Park. With only about two dozens of their closest family and friends, it had been an intimate and happy affair. Mike hadn't wanted anything extravagant, and Harvey was more than happy to oblige.
"You want to go to India?" Harvey asked, genuinely curious.
"No idea," Mike replied, hooking an arm around Harvey's neck and pulling him close so that they were practically nose-to-nose. "It was the most exotic place my mind could come up with on short notice. Let's get to know Paris first and see what happens?"
"Comme tu veux," was all Harvey managed before Mike leaned back onto the couch, dragging a more than willing Harvey down on top of him and kissing him.
Wherever it was that Mike chose to go, Harvey knew he was going to follow. For now though, they were going to have married sex on a couch in full view of the Paris skyline, which come to think of it, was not a bad way to start a marriage.
The End
End Notes:
Comme tu veux = "As you wish." In French. Kinda have to work in some sort of movie quote in French, right? ;)
And that's all folks! When I started writing this AU on 10 July 2012, I had no idea it was going to turn into an epic series. But by 7 October 2012, I had six fics and about 65k worth of words. Yes, all this had been finished by the start of October, but RL kicked in, and it took a while to get the last few beta'd. Anyway, I'm glad people seemed to have enjoyed the series as much as I have writing it, and it's been a fun journey so far with Mike and Harvey! Happy Holiday Seasons to all, and that's all from me (at least fic-wise) for 2012!
Author: in_the_bottle
Fandom: Suits
Rating: PG-13 (~4,500 words)
Summary: Five moments in the lives of Mike Ross and Harvey Specter. Missing scenes from the Fate's Decree universe, in reverse chronological order. Really won't make ANY sense at all if you haven't read the previous fics.
Disclaimer: Not mine, no profit made.
Warning: Minor character death.
Notes: Some of this was written as I wrote the main fics in the series, some were scenes that were cut because they didn't fit the flow of the main fics, and others were bits and pieces that came to me at random times. I was going to leave posting this till a bit later, but I wanted to finish posting the series before the year ends, and since I'll be out most of tomorrow and busy packing during the night to leave at 5:30am on Xmas Eve for my holiday, I don't know when I'll get a chance to post this before new year's if I don't do it now. So, here it! Early Xmas gift you all! Many thanks again to slashybits for beta.
Feedback: Yes! Yes! YES!!! Please?
Five
It was some time past midnight when Jo showed up at Harvey's hospital room, looking as tired as Mike felt.
"How's he doing?" she asked quietly.
"Still out, but the surgery went well," Mike answered in an equally soft tone. "He'll need some P.T. once he's healed up enough, but everything should be back to normal in a few months."
"It was crazy in the ER this evening, but I wanted to give this to you before I left," Jo said, handling over a large plastic bag that Mike recognised as the bags they used for storing patient's personal belongings.
"Thanks."
"I'd stay for a bit, but I'm pretty much dead on my feet, you staying the night?"
"Yeah," Mike replied. "Go home, Jo. I'll probably see you tomorrow."
Jo was halfway out the door before she turned around, looking contemplatively at Mike.
"Mike, I'm not sure if it's my place to say this, especially since I haven't a clue what happened between the two of you," she indicated to Harvey's sleeping form. "But I think you should give him another chance. I haven't seen you as happy as you've been when you're with him, and that has to mean something. Don't make the same mistake I did with my ex." Jo didn't wait for Mike's reply before she left.
Mike stared at the closed door for over a minute before he opened the bag Jo left him. As expected, Harvey's clothes were simply thrown into the bag without any thought or care. Slowly, Mike took each item of clothing out and carefully folded them. They were already horribly wrinkled, but it gave Mike something to do other than to sit and stare at Harvey, trying to figure out how they could go back to how they were before everything went to hell.
Dress shirt, tie, suit jacket now all sat in a folded pile on top of the second visitor's chair next to Mike's own. Mike was just trying to smooth out a crease in Harvey's pants when he felt something in one of the pockets. Reaching in, Mike found in his palm the platinum snail cufflinks Mike had given Harvey for their first Christmas together all those years ago.
Frowning, Mike grabbed Harvey's shirt from the pile to double check. As Mike remembered, the silver Armani cufflinks were still attached to one side of the sleeves.
Looking at Harvey's unconscious figure on the bed, Mike felt a lump formed in his throat. How long had Harvey been carrying the cufflinks around with him? Mike knew Harvey loved the cufflinks and wore them frequently, but to carry them around when he wasn't wearing them... Mike wasn't sure how he felt about that piece of information.
Carefully, Mike pocketed the cufflinks and finished folding the pants, putting it on top of the pile.
"What am I going to do with you?" Mike asked aloud, surprised to find his voice slightly choked. "Do you have any idea how much I love you? That the thought of being with anyone else other than you actually makes me feel sick?" Mike took a breath, eyes not wavering from Harvey. "I could forgive the accusations. Hell, I could even understand where they came from, but when you brought up Trevor..." Mike trailed off, shaking his head and closing his eyes.
After hearing Harvey's messages and finding the cufflinks, there was no doubt that Mike was still deeply in love with Harvey, which was what made things so hard because Mike wasn't sure if he could let himself trust Harvey again. "I don't know if I can ever be happy without you," he murmured. "I don't even know if I remember how to do this whole living thing without you."
Standing up, he took the three small steps that brought him right next to Harvey's hospital bed. Looking down at the unconscious figure on the bed, Mike felt himself aching to touch Harvey again, to be with him. He gave into the desire and climbed onto the bed. Careful not to disturb any of the tubes and wires that Harvey was hooked up to, Mike gently rearranged Harvey's right arm and lay his head on Harvey's chest, breathing in his familiar scent, finally feeling at home after three weeks of pure hell.
"You have a whole load more of grovelling to do before I'm ready to forgive you," Mike muttered, looking up at the oblivious Harvey, and knowing in his heart that he would eventually forgive him because he'd had a taste of the alternative; living his life without Harvey, it was a bleak existence, and if he was being completely honest with himself, not really a path he wanted to go down. Suddenly, Mike realised what he should've probably done years ago, what Grammy had wanted him to do before she passed. "I think I've at least figure out how to get rid of that insecurity issue of yours," Mike said, closing his eyes and laying back down. "It might be doing things a bit backwards, proposing to you before I forgive you, but we've never really give a shit about what's normal, have we?"
For the first time since the night he walked out of their apartment, Mike had no trouble falling asleep.
Four
Harvey had been the one who picked up the phone when it rang at four thirty in the morning on Tuesday. It was the night duty nurse at Edith's nursing home and even before she said anything, Harvey knew it was going to be bad news.
The nurse calmly but sympathetically told him that Edith had passed away in her sleep an hour ago. Harvey thanked her for the call and spent the next ten minutes just staring at Mike, peacefully sleeping next to him, oblivious.
Edith's health had been slowly but steadily going down hill in the last several months. Dr Myer had told them weeks ago to be prepared and undoubtedly, Edith herself must have known it was just a matter of time, because less than two days ago she had pulled Harvey aside during their Sunday visit and made Harvey promise that he'd take care of Mike when she was gone.
But how could anyone be prepared for the death of a loved one? Even when you knew that it was inevitable, it somehow still came as a surprise when it happened. Or at least, that's how Harvey was feeling.
Harvey only had some very vague memories of his own maternal grandmother who died when Harvey was six. He never knew his other grandparents; they had all passed before he was born. In the almost four years that they've known each other, Edith Ross had treated Harvey like he was her own grandson, and Harvey had slowly began to view her as his own grandmother, he'd even followed Mike's lead and started calling her Grammy, much to Edith's delight.
After years of being estranged from his own parents, Harvey cherished the parental nature of his relationship with Edith; her wicked sense of humour and their shared love and concern for Mike bonding them together. Harvey had been too young to really understand what was happening when his own grandmother died, now while the knowledge of Edith's passing was permanently lodged in his brain, all he felt was a sense of numbness, a vacuum where emotions should be, an overwhelming sense of...nothing.
"Mike," Harvey gently shook Mike's shoulder. "Mike, wake up," he said softly, still unsure as to how he was going to break the news to Mike, but knowing that he can't delay it any longer.
"Huh?" Mike blinked sleepily at Harvey, eyes trying to adjust to the light from the bedside lamp Harvey had turned on earlier.
"The nursing home rang," Harvey started, and that was enough to get Mike's full attention.
"Grammy?" Mike asked, immediately alert and sitting up.
Harvey took a deep breath, preparing to deliver the bad news, but it turned out that he didn't even have to say anything. Whatever it was in his expression was enough for Mike to tell what Harvey couldn't say out loud.
"No, Harvey, she can't...No," realisation turned into devastation in a blink of an eye even as Mike denied the truth.
"Mike, I'm sorry," Harvey said, reaching out to pull an unresisting Mike into his arms, feeling hot tears soaking through his well worn night-shirt. "I'm so sorry."
At the back of his mind, Harvey went through the list of things that needed to be done, calling both his and Mike's work to get some time off, sorting out funeral arrangements, and getting in touch with Edith's lawyer to sort out her personal affairs, and those were just the beginning.
Harvey knew Mike would be in no shape to deal with any of it, losing the last of his family, especially someone as special as Edith who had practically raised Mike, Harvey couldn't even imagine what Mike must be feeling. Not for the first time, Harvey thanked Ray for dragging him to the hospital that faithful night more than four years ago. Because the idea of Mike having to go through this alone, of Harvey not being here for Mike, was unthinkable, and suddenly, Harvey felt a crushing sense of loss that seemed to have come out of nowhere, filling the previously void space.
Dawn would come soon enough when Harvey will have to deal with the practicalities and Mike would have to face a new day in a world without Grammy. But for now all Harvey did was hold Mike tighter against him as they mourned in private.
Three
"Relax," Harvey said as they prepared to leave the condo. "It's only a dinner."
"Easy for you to say!" Mike replied, still trying to find his wallet. "Are you sure this is all right? Not too casual?" he asked again, because really, jeans and button down shirt seemed just a tad too casual for something as big as this.
"We have agreed that I'm the fashion expert in this relationship right?" Harvey asked, and Mike knew without even looking, that Harvey was probably rolling his eyes in frustration.
"Yeah, but - "
"Mike, it's only dinner with my brother and his wife."
"Easy for you to say," and seriously, where did he left his wallet? It was normally either on the kitchen counter, or on the bedside table, but he'd check both spots already, and a third trip back into the bedroom yielded the same result, no wallet in sight.
"In the study," Harvey called out from the living room.
"Right," Mike said to himself, suddenly remembering he'd brought it into the study to activate his new credit card using the desktop computer last night since Harvey was working on the laptop. And there goes his delay tactic.
"Don't think you can put this off, Mike. If I managed to survive your grandmother on Christmas, you'll live through dinner with Charlie and Janice. They are nowhere as scary as your Grammy," and of course Harvey saw right through his plan.
"For you, maybe. Grammy's a perfectly nice little old lady," Mike replied, slipping his wallet into the back of his jeans as he walked out of the study.
"I don't even think you believe that," Harvey snorted, opening the front door and waving Mike out.
Half an hour later, they were seated in a busy Chinese restaurant in the middle of Chinatown with Mike staring at Charlie Specter.
"Are you sure you're not twins? Or did Harvey work out a way to clone himself and didn't tell me?" Mike blurted, knowing how stupid he sounded but yet couldn't help himself. Other than the lack of moles near his eyebrows and being slightly shorter than Harvey from what Mike could tell when he stood up to shake hands, Charlie looked so much like Harvey that it was almost eerie.
Charlie and Janice laughed at Mike's comment and Harvey glared.
"Seriously, don't tell me you haven't been mistaken for twins before," Mike said, his nervousness forgotten. Mike had never seen two siblings who looked so much like each other as Harvey and Charlie.
"He's four years younger than me, it was pretty obvious as kids that I was older."
Charlie shrugged. "Besides, Harvey's always the sporty one, he's usually out and about while I'm either at home or at the library being a geek."
"Nothing wrong with being a geek," Janice said with a smile, pouring tea for all of them.
"Yeah, Harvey's a pretty big one," Mike said. "But I guess you already know that."
"Hey!" Harvey protested, but before he could say anything further, a waiter appeared to take their order.
"So, Mike, you trust us?" Charlie asked, putting down the menu he was idly flipping through earlier.
"Don't worry about him, he'll eat anything you put in front of him," Harvey said, smirking at Mike.
"Hey!" It was Mike's turn to protest, but... "Harvey's not wrong," he admitted sheepishly.
Charlie laughed, and then preceded to order god knows what in what Mike could only assume was perfect Mandarin, given their waiter's expression of surprise.
"Living in China has its advantages," Charlie said after their waiter collected their menus and left with their orders.
"Charlie's always been good at languages," Janice said. "We spend the same amount of time in China, and I could barely say hello and ask for directions. I can understand most of what's being said, but my pronunciation is absolutely disastrous."
"It is one of the toughest languages to learn, so I've read," Mike said, sipping the still hot tea.
"Speaking of languages," Charlie began with a smile that Mike would classify as evil if it appeared on Harvey. "Did Harvey told you about the time he tried to learn Elvish after reading Tolkien?"
Mike could feel his eyes widened in surprise, and the groan from Harvey next to him only served to confirm the truth of Charlie's claim.
"Dude, seriously?!" Mike turned to stare at Harvey in amused disbelief.
"I was fifteen! And they sounded cool," Harvey sounded petulant.
"In what universe does learning Elvish made you cool when you were fifteen?" Mike asked, starting to enjoy himself. Maybe this whole meeting with the family thing wasn't so bad after all.
Two
"He used my can opener for his tuna!" It would've been the understatement of the year to say that Harvey was exasperated. "My can opener!"
The fact that Mike was laughing at him did not help.
They were at Harvey's condo, Harvey having just got home from a late night at work preparing for a trial the next day and Mike had decided to spend the night so they could see each other since he had a late shift the next day and the longer commute wouldn't be an issue.
"It's not funny!" Harvey said, loosening his tie as he stepped into the bedroom, with Mike following.
"From where I'm sitting? Yes it is," Mike replied in between bouts of snickering laughs, making himself comfortable on the bed as Harvey changed.
"It's my pre-trial can opener! I've never used it, Donna's never used it, and now Harold the Conqueror decides to use it on his tin of imported tuna! It's now tainted, Mike. Tainted! How can I be sure that it'll still work for tomorrow's trial?"
It was a serious issue, but Mike seemed to laugh even harder at Harvey's every word. "Stop laughing! I have a serious problem here!"
"Harvey, it's a can opener. Get a new one."
"Get a new one?!" Harvey couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Get a new one?! One can't just get a new can opener!"
"Why not? People do it every day," Mike said, still way too amused over Harvey's suffering.
"It's not just any random can opener we're talking about here! It's The Can Opener, you can't just assign any random can opener to be The Can Opener, it doesn't work that way."
Harvey hung up his jacket and tie in the closet before turning around to make his way back to Mike, who was still laughing at him. "It's not funny!" Harvey repeated, feeling a smile threatening to make an appearance at the sight of Mike's clear amusement, even if it was at Harvey's expense. He flopped down onto the bed next to Mike, not caring that he was still in his shirt and suit pants. "God, I swear I must've suffered a moment of temporary insanity to have hired him."
Mike twisted around to face Harvey, his left elbow resting on the mattress with his head propped up by his hand. "Why exactly did you hire Harold anyway? All you do is complain about how incompetent he is, and if he's really that bad, why haven't you fired him?"
"He's..." Harvey started only to stop when Mike's question fully registered in his mind. Why hadn't he fired the kid?
"He's...?" Mike prompted, raising a questioning eyebrow at Harvey.
"He's a socially awkward geek with no social skills but he's got a pretty good brain in his head," Harvey finally admitted.
"So, he reminded you of yourself?" Mike teased.
"Hey, I was never socially awkward and have plenty of skills, social and otherwise," Harvey protested, but Mike wasn't too far off if Harvey was being completely honest.
"Just the 'geek' thing then?" Mike smirked, knowing he'd got Harvey with that one. "So what did he do? Made a Star Trek reference at the interview?"
Harvey must've given something away despite not saying a word because Mike's eyes widened. "Oh my god! You totally hired him because he actually made a Star Trek reference at the interview!"
"If I have to hire someone out of the mass of dull, carbon copy, predictable, boot licking drones..."
"You might as well get someone who appreciates the virtues of Captain Kirk," Mike finished his sentence, laughing. Again.
"That's the thing," Harvey sighed. "I don't even think he likes Kirk. And he's more like... Harry Kim," Harvey scowled as Mike continued to snigger. "Oh, shut up!" Harvey pulled a pillow from behind him and tossed it in Mike's face.
It only made Mike laughed harder.
One
It was almost nine at night by the time Mike woke up to find Harvey camped out in his living room in the middle of what looked like a Star Trek marathon. He was feeling vaguely more human after the close to nine hours of uninterrupted sleep he'd had, but his stomach was reminding him that the last proper meal he'd had was almost 24 hours ago at the Pearson Hardman Christmas dinner the night before.
"Oh man, that smells so good, whatever it is you have in that pot," Mike said, shuffling out sleepily from his bedroom still yawning, knowing that his hair was probably sticking up in various directions. He briefly wondered how Harvey had managed to cook up whatever it was he had cooking with half a carton of milk, some eggs, and leftover blue cheese he had in the fridge.
"Slow cook lamb stew," Harvey answered, hitting pause on the DVD remote control. "Did you know you had absolutely nothing to eat in your entire apartment?" He got up from the couch and made his way to the kitchen.
"I don't have the time or the energy to cook. Besides, I spend so much time at the hospital, it's just easier to eat there," Mike shrugged. "God, it smells even more amazing up close."
"Sit down. I'll get you some. I don't even want to know when was the last time you actually ate."
"I think I managed to scoff a banana sometime early this morning during one of my two-minute quest for more caffeine," Mike admitted even as his stomach made it known to the world that it wanted food. "I didn't know you can cook," Mike commented as Harvey set a bowl of stew in front of him. "Not having any?" he asked when Harvey sat down at the dining table with just a bottle of beer.
Harvey shook his head. "I ate earlier. And I find cooking can sometimes be relaxing."
"Really?" Mike asked.
"I just picture the faces of everyone who annoyed me on whatever it was I wanted to chop up and go at it. Though I have to admit, most of the time the punching bag at the gym is a bit more effective," Harvey shrugged.
Taking a bite of the stew, the flavour of the meat, herbs and god knows what else exploded across Mike's tongue and he let out an involuntary moan at the taste. "Oh my god, what the hell did you put in this thing?!" Mike didn't wait for Harvey's reply before eating another spoonful of the stew.
"A whole load of stuff that couldn't be found in your kitchen," Harvey smirked, leaning back in his chair and taking a sip of the beer, clearly enjoying the sight of Mike wolfing down his creation. "It'll taste even better after a day or two in the fridge."
"You're kidding."
"I don't kid about my food. Want seconds?" Harvey asked after Mike cleared his bowl.
Mike wordlessly held out his bowl, probably looking pathetically like Oliver Twist or something, but Harvey only smiled as he took the bowl and refilled it.
It took even less time for Mike to polish off the second bowl as well, by the end of which he was awake enough to realise he probably shouldn't go for thirds unless he wanted to make himself sick.
"So," Mike started, looking at Harvey who was finishing his beer. "You're rich, have impeccable taste in fashion, and can cook. Anything else I should know about?"
Pushing the empty beer bottle aside, Harvey leaned over the dining table, grinning. "Why don't you find out?"
Mike couldn't help it, he burst out laughing, "Please tell me that line don't actually work?"
"What's wrong with it?" Harvey looked put out by Mike's reaction.
"Oh, let me count the ways. One, it's cheesy. Two, it's clichéd, and three, have I mentioned cheesy? Besides," Mike added with a small smile. "You don't need lines with me."
"Don't I?"
"Nope," Mike replied, feeling his heart rate picking up at what he was about to suggest. "I know last night didn't exactly end as either one of us had planned."
"You had plans?"
"And I'm pretty sure you had some plans of your own too."
"Just a few ideas."
Mike felt his breathing getting heavier; the air between them seemed to crackle with anticipation. "Want to catch me up on them?" he asked, pushing his chair back and standing up, holding out a hand.
Harvey mirrored Mike's move and accepted his hand. "I thought you'd never ask."
Mike pulled Harvey into a stew and beer flavoured kiss before dragging him back into his room. Harvey had waited six months for this, and Mike wasn't going to disappoint him.
Zero (Bonus)
"Paris! Oh my god, I'm in Paris! I'm in actual proper Paris!"
Harvey watched with an indulgent smile as Mike buzzed around their hotel suite like he'd drunk a carton of Red Bull, flinging open the curtains to reveal the Eiffel Tower in all its glory before them. Harvey had gone through quite a bit of trouble to find the perfect hotel with a room that had a clear view of the tower, and the absolutely delight on Mike's face at the sight that greeted him was more than worth the effort.
"I can't believe you refused to tell me where we were going for our honeymoon until we were at the airport," Mike said as he flopped down beside Harvey on the extremely comfortable couch facing the window. "And made me think we were going to Iowa for our honeymoon."
"You came up with Iowa all by yourself," Harvey argued. "I neither confirmed nor denied it."
"Come on, you said it was going to be sci-fi related, Iowa was the birth place of Captain Kirk, how much more sci-fi can you get?"
"'There can be only one.'" Harvey quoted. "They filmed Highlander in Paris, so I wasn't lying when I said it was sci-fi related," Harvey continued, smiling as Mike rested his head against his shoulders, the both of them looking out at the night view of Paris. "Its not called the most romantic city in the world for nothing and I know we've talked about traveling Europe for a while, I figured what better time to do it, right?"
"That's why you wanted me to take three months off?"
"What else did you think we were going to do in three months?" Harvey asked, amused.
He felt Mike shrugged. "I hadn't really thought about it."
"Liar," Harvey accused affectionately, pulling Mike closer against him. "Every minute that you weren't freaking out about your PhD or the wedding, you were obsessed with trying to figure out what I had planned."
"Ok, fine," Mike said. "Now that we're here, care to tell me what exactly you have planned?"
"Beyond Paris? Nothing," Harvey admitted. It had been fun watching Mike coming up with his increasingly ridiculous guesses.
"Nothing?" Mike untangled himself to sit up properly, looking incredulously at Harvey. "You mean you haven't booked hotels in 10 other cities with detailed day to day and hour to hour itinerary drafted up?"
"Nope. We can stay in Paris for the entire three months if you like, or we could do the whole two days in each city across Europe if you want."
"And what if I say we ditch Europe and head over to... I don't know, Japan or India?"
"Then I'd suggest you make use of the free wi-fi, check out their visitor visa requirements and book us a flight there," Harvey replied, nonchalant. All Harvey wanted to do was spend time with his new spouse, he really didn't care where they were, just as long as they were away from any work obligations.
Both of them had been focused on their careers throughout their relationship, so much so that it almost destroyed them. Now that Mike had completed his fellowship and had officially passed his PhD, Harvey had been more than happy to take his accumulated annual leave and have a proper holiday.
Their wedding two days ago had been a simple affair at the registrar's office followed by a nice dinner reception at the Ritz-Carlton, Central Park. With only about two dozens of their closest family and friends, it had been an intimate and happy affair. Mike hadn't wanted anything extravagant, and Harvey was more than happy to oblige.
"You want to go to India?" Harvey asked, genuinely curious.
"No idea," Mike replied, hooking an arm around Harvey's neck and pulling him close so that they were practically nose-to-nose. "It was the most exotic place my mind could come up with on short notice. Let's get to know Paris first and see what happens?"
"Comme tu veux," was all Harvey managed before Mike leaned back onto the couch, dragging a more than willing Harvey down on top of him and kissing him.
Wherever it was that Mike chose to go, Harvey knew he was going to follow. For now though, they were going to have married sex on a couch in full view of the Paris skyline, which come to think of it, was not a bad way to start a marriage.
The End
End Notes:
Comme tu veux = "As you wish." In French. Kinda have to work in some sort of movie quote in French, right? ;)
And that's all folks! When I started writing this AU on 10 July 2012, I had no idea it was going to turn into an epic series. But by 7 October 2012, I had six fics and about 65k worth of words. Yes, all this had been finished by the start of October, but RL kicked in, and it took a while to get the last few beta'd. Anyway, I'm glad people seemed to have enjoyed the series as much as I have writing it, and it's been a fun journey so far with Mike and Harvey! Happy Holiday Seasons to all, and that's all from me (at least fic-wise) for 2012!