Brother from another mother

Ex-specter Patronum

When Mike opened his eyes, he knew something bad had happened. When some dust fell on him and made him start to cough, he knew something not that great had happened.

And when the coughing made it feel like his chest was ripping open, he knew it was even worse.

He gazed around at the debris beside him. The room was a mess; fallen bits of wall, the roof was semi caved in; his bag was crushed under some masonry. He tried to wriggle up, but found he was caught underneath the same style of masonry that was trapping his bag. He tried to heave it off but every time he did so, a hit white burst of pain flowed through his arm and chest.

He stopped moving and instead tried to focus on what had happened. He had been meeting with a client whose pro bono Harvey had pawned off on him. His building had been condemned and he was hoping to sue for it.

What happened?

"Don't strain yourself."

Mike whipped his head around - causing more pain and his eyes widened as he saw Harvey stood in front of him. "Harvey?" He choked as more dust settled around him.

"The one and only," Harvey said, casually meandering over to him, his hands in his pockets.

Mike frowned. "Aren't you going to help me?" He asked, coughing some more.

"As much as it pains me to admit this, kid - I would if I could," Harvey told him.

"What? What does that mean?" Mike gasped, panicking. "Harvey, help me get up!"

"Mike, calm down," Harvey set, kneeling so that he was at the same height as Mike. "I can't."

"Why not?" Mike asked pathetically, pretending that wasn't a whine in his voice.

"I'm just here to keep you company," Harvey said, brushing off some dust from his suit with some disdain. Mike stared at him. Why would Harvey wander into a bomb site with his impeccable suit, just to keep his associate company?

"You're not real," Mike confirmed sadly. "I've gone mad."

"It could be that your psychosis has finally kicked in from the pot you did," Harvey agreed. "Or, it could be that you hit your head quite badly in the collapse."

"I don't - I don't remember a collapse," Mike whimpered, touching a wet part of his head. He hissed as it stung.

"Excellent work, genius," Harvey rolled his eyes.

"You always told me to press until it hurts," Mike pointed out, trying to give a sly grin and ending up giving a pained wince.

"Well, that was real me," Harvey informed him. "Hallucination me is telling you to stop giving yourself unnecessary pain. And look at that suit," it was now Harvey's turn to sound pained as he took in the wreckage that was Mike's suit.

"No, you must be real, only the real Harvey would bring up my appearance in a life or death situation," Mike griped, once again attempting to heave the masonry off his body. "And I don't do hallucinations, so you can just leave now. I'll be fine with my own company until help arrives," Harvey looked down, his mouth stretching into a displeased frown. "No one's coming, are they?" Mike asked him quietly.

"The chances aren't the best, I'll give you that," Harvey said. "But I don't believe in no-win scenarios, remember?"

"Ugh, I really don't want a lesson in Trekkie 101 right now," Mike groaned. "And if you're just in my head, then you won't know that nobody's coming. They could be on their way right now. You could be..." Mike choked slightly, the desperately hopeful sob dying in his sentence. He instantly regretted saying what he'd said. He didn't want Harvey to know just how much faith he had in the man.