I don't want to come back.

Chapter 15.

Mike sat at his desk lost in thought. He was worried about Harvey. He had yet to come into the office, and Jessica had been looking for him earlier. Of course Mike had lied and said he and Donna had gone to do some research for a case, and luckily was able to say that since he no longer worked for Harvey, he no longer knew the specifics of his business, so therefor had no idea where Harvey had actually gone.

He knew that Harvey had deserved to be yelled at, but he couldn't get the look of utter sadness that had played across his former boss's face out of his head. Mike felt guilty most of all for the last thing he had said. That Harvey had not deserved. Sighing, Mike got up, grabbing a few files he had done that morning for Louis, and went to hand them in so he could get the new load before heading out for lunch.

Louis, however, had gotten a call from Mr. Collins earlier that day, and had no intention of giving Mike any more work for the day, since he had already done more than twice of what a normal associate was expected to do. Louis felt there was no loss if extra work wasn't done for a day. After all, you can't lose what you didn't have. The extra work Mike was able to do was simply a bonus.

As Mike walked into his office, a fake smile plastered across his face, Louis decided he would go one step further than giving Mike a break; that he would also talk to him. He had learnt the trick of reading Mike's eyes and could see how miserable and worried the kid was.

After he wasn't handed more work, Mike sat down, thinking Louis needed a wall to bounce ideas off for a case. He was shocked when the first thing out of Louis's mouth was, "How are you doing, Mike?"

When Mike got over the shock he lied, "I'm fine, thank you Louis." Louis wasn't having any of it, however, so after a raised eyebrow and expectant face, Mike went for the minimal truth, and quietly answered again, "I'm worried because Harvey isn't at work yet."

Louis let a small smile cross his face as he said, "Well, I'm happy to relieve some of your worries and tell you that he just got in a few moments ago." Mike did feel slightly better knowing that Harvey had made it to work, but was far from feeling good again. Louis could see that he had barely made a dent in the kid's sadness, so he tried to push a little more, "Is there anything else bothering you Mike that you want to talk about?" He didn't want to rat out his client, not knowing if he was supposed to know what he did, so he had to accept Mike's meek refusal that anything else was wrong. He was startled though when Mike let out a sudden swear and sprinted from the Partner's office.

Mike had forgotten that Harvey knew nothing about his lie and that he had to be filled in on it before Jessica found him. Knowing her, she would try to trick him. Not paying attention to the people he was shoving out of the way in the hall, Mike made his way to Harvey's office.

Suits

Harvey strode quickly into his office, coffee in hand to draw off suspicion, and Donna on his heels. He sighed with relief as he hung up his coat and sat at his desk, readying files he would need to look like he was working, and had been for some time. When he finished mussing the files over his desk he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. At least this hadn't gone wrong yet, like everything else seemed too lately.

He kept his eyes closed as he heard Donna whispering over the intercom. "Um, Harvey, I think you should open your eyes and prepare for what is coming, or rather who."

Smiling slightly with entertainment, Harvey responded, not bothering to press the button, "I'm not afraid of Jessica, Donna." His amused laugh was cut short as Donna quickly informed him it was not Jessica running toward his office.

By the time Harvey was able to open his eyes in surprise at Donna's words, Mike was already through the door and halfway to his desk. Harvey froze staring at Mike like a deer caught in headlights. Mike didn't seem to notice though as he finished walking the distance to the desk and leaned toward Harvey, speaking in a rushed whisper, "Jessica was looking for you this morning and I told her you and Donna went to do some research for a case and that since I don't work for you anymore I don't know any specifics but she is headed to your office right know, so you better think of something quick, because we both know she will test you to make sure I wasn't just covering your ass." Mike barely finished his hurried speech before Jessica was striding into Harvey's office, suspicious eyes on Mike.

Luckily Mike saved Harvey some time by turning to look at Jessica and saying with a smile, "Oh Jessica, I was just telling Harvey to call you." He headed for the door as he added, "I guess it is unnecessary now, isn't it Harvey?"

Harvey gathered himself together, and clearing his voice said somewhat awkwardly, "Quite right Michael." Jessica, Mike, and Donna all sent Harvey a look threw that clearly said, what in the hell was that, but no one commented, and soon after Mike had left to go back to his desk, Jessica was headed back to her office, unsatisfied, since she had been sure the kid had lied. Lucky for Harvey, Jessica had simply put the odd behaviour behind all the things that had been going on between his former associate and him. She had heard all the gossip, and had to deal with the fall out of the many fights that Harvey seemed to be having. She had even heard a story about how Harvey had attacked a client that he caught in bed with Mike, and even though she knew it was an exaggeration, she knew that a lot of lies had nuggets of truth, so she didn't doubt something like it, to a much lesser degree, had happened.

Harvey put his face in his hands after watching his boss disappear from sight, and only looked up when he heard Donna squeal from in front of him. He tiredly looked up at her, a face that clearly said, this had better be good or else I am going to defenestrate you. Donna just grinned at him as she stage whispered, "He still cares about you Harvey! You still have a chance at being with your soul mate!"

Harvey looked at her a moment before dropping his head back in his hands and mumbling, "This had better be good Donna, because I can't handle any false hope right now."

Donna lifted his head back up, with a finger under his chin, as she said happily, "Not only did he cover for you Harvey, but he also went out of the way to make sure you didn't get into trouble with Jessica. He could have left it at simply lying to her earlier, but no, instead he ran hear to let you in on the cover up before she could get to you."

Harvey just looked at her dumbly as he started to say, "So, that doesn't mean that…"

Donna cut him off as she grabbed his face with both hands and forced eye contact to make sure he understood her seriousness as she said, "He cares Harvey. Even after all the shit you've pulled the last week, he still cares. I can only think of one thing that could survive all this and I know you know what I mean."

Harvey tried to fight back the hope Donna was forcing on him, but he wasn't strong enough. He needed that hope if he wanted to survive, so in the end he felt a slight smile pulling at the corners of his mouth as Donna finely let go of his face and headed back to her desk.

Whispering to himself in amazement, he said, "Mike might still care about me."