Brother from another mother

Mine. [Part-1]

It all started with Harvey leaving.

Harvey had been called away early that morning to D.C. for some lobbyist big-wig and although Mike had done everything short of shameless begging, Harvey had refused to take him, citing some critical research Mike was working on for their anti-trust trial coming up early the next week. Mike figured things would be boring but generally uneventful with Harvey gone, but it had become obvious to him very quickly how much the mere presence of Harvey had been protecting him at the office.

Donna had been deployed with her boss on the private jet to the capital, leaving Mike at the mercy of not only Louis, but the Harvard drones as well. Sensing blood in the water; no matter how much Mike tried to feign indifference at Harvey's two day absence, they took an almost perverse delight in harassing him - making comments, trying to foist their work off on him, and generally making his life miserable. Gregory and Kyle screwed with him the most, though several of the others, emboldened by Harvey's absence, got their cheap shots in as well. Mike kept his head down and his mouth shut. He knew the idea of complaining to Louis was laughable; the Junior Partner was, if anything, worse then what he'd been putting up with from the others. He managed to pop up at Mike's desk multiple times a day, always dropping off more work, heedless of the fact that Mike had plenty of his own to do.

The third time this happened, culminating in Louis making some smart-ass comment about Harvey 'leaving his puppy at home in the kennel all by himself', Mike snapped something back, which made him feel better for a few minutes, but ultimately ended with him being banished by a smug Louis to the copy room with a stack of briefs that took him four hours to copy, index and file.

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Harvey returned Wednesday afternoon; Donna having come in early Wednesday morning to start shifting through what had piled up in their absence. Harvey wouldn't have told Mike under threat of death, but he'd missed the kid. He was used to the whirl of activity and energy that was Mike and had grown accustomed to the banter and good natured teasing they kept up in a steady stream at work every day. Harvey had called once a day for the two days he'd been gone, ostensibly to check on Mike's progress with the case files - at least that was what he told Donna. The red head had only given him a knowing smirk and went back to her work, choosing not to verbalize what they were both well aware of; things weren't the same without Mike.

Harvey had expected to see the blonde burst into his office the minute he found out Harvey was back. He looked forward to complaining about Mike's continuing lack of etiquette, (would that kid ever learn to knock?) before settling in contentedly to listen to a marathon session of Mike's excited barking about the case, and whatever else was swirling around in that big brain of his. So he was genuinely surprised when Mike didn't show up at Donna's desk until after 11am; a full three hours after Harvey had sailed in - both flirting harmlessly with Jessica and artfully insulting Louis in quick succession. After the first hour Harvey had manufactured a reason to pass by the associates' cubicles (allegedly to check on... something) and he'd seen the top of the familiar blonde head as Mike bent over some papers spread across the surface of his desk. Harvey thought about sending for Mike, but decided that would give the wrong impression; he'd let the pup come to him.

Harvey watched Mike approach Donna's desk with a smile that looked suspiciously strained. He exchanged a few words with the older woman before she nodded him back toward Harvey's office. Harvey quickly dropped his eyes to the brief he was 'reading' when there was a knock at his door. Snapping his eyes up, Harvey froze.

Mike had just knocked on Harvey's door.

Mike never knocked.

Harvey felt a small jolt of something like concern ripple down his spine.