Chapter Text
Mike Ross was feeling pretty good, despite the fact that he had stayed up nearly the entire night before. He had been pouring over the files for his and Harvey’s current case, and at approximately 3.36 am, had found the crucial piece of information necessary to prove the plaintiff was lying. After three non-refreshing hours of sleep, he crawled into the office and presented the information to Harvey. Harvey had been so pleased he had let Mike come to court with him, and Mike got to watch Harvey eviscerate the opposing council, which was always a treat.
Not to say that there had not been a few weird moments. While they were in the car, Harvey had gotten a text on his phone, and after reading it had said, “That reminds me; give me your phone.”
Mike had unquestioningly handed it over. Harvey promptly turned it off and put it in his breast pocket.
“Hey!”
“I don’t trust you to keep it off. I am not taking the chance of it ringing during court. You can get it back later if you behave.”
“You know,” Mike complained, “I am not actually five years old.”
“We’ll see.” Harvey smiled.
Mike wanted to protest, but didn’t. He didn’t get his phone back after court, either. Harvey was so pleased with how court went he bought Mike lunch in an actual restaurant. They were tucked in a back booth in O’Grady’s, a dark little pub that served awesome fish and chips. They had just placed their orders, and Harvey was grandly predicting that they should have an offer to settle before they even got back to the office.
Before Mike had a chance to argue with him, Harvey’s phone rang. Harvey shot him a satisfied look, See, rookie, I am being proven right again, as he pulled out his phone.
“Harvey Specter.”
Mike was reminded that he needed to get his phone back, but was distracted by Harvey’s side of the conversation. It was clearly not a settlement offer, since Harvey’s body was suddenly tense and he was barking things like, “When?” and “How long?” into the phone.
He glanced up and met Mike’s eyes. He visibly forced himself to relax and said, in a calmer tone of voice, “Okay, thank you Donna.” He hung up and immediately dialed another number.
“This is Harvey Specter. I need to know the status on my paperwork… Yes, that paperwork…This has been arranged for months, how long will it take to get signed off?”
Mike shifted in his seat.
“Okay, fine.” Harvey looked at his watch. “I want it on my desk by two.” He hung up.
“What was that about?” Mike asked. “Do we have to go?”
“No. Actually, let’s get a couple beers.” He raised his hand to flag down the waitress.
“Beers? At lunch?” Mike was stunned. “Okay, Don Draper.”
“We’re celebrating.”
“We are? For what? You haven’t even gotten your offer yet.”
At that, Harvey’s phone rang again. It was, of course, the expected settlement offer. Everything had been hammered out by the time their meals and celebratory beers had arrived.
Harvey insisted on ordering two more rounds before he finally paid the tab. It was the longest lunch that Mike could remember taking since he started working for Harvey. Mike stumbled as he tried to get out of the booth. “I shouldn’t be this drunk,” he muttered. “It’s all your fault if I am useless this afternoon.”
Harvey seemed perfectly fine, though there was still tension evident in his shoulders. “You better hope you aren’t useless. I’m not paying you to sleep on the job.” He addressed his driver. “Ray, back to the office please. Don’t go down Fifth, though. Let’s take the back way.”
“Sure thing, Harvey.” Ray opened the door, and Harvey pushed Mike in ahead of him.
“Why can’t we go down Fifth?” Mike asked as he scooted over. “And can I have my phone back?”
“No.”
Mike sighed, and rested his head back against the seat. Harvey was definitely acting strange, but he was too tired to fight about it with him now. He closed his eyes.
Before he even knew it, they were pulling up in front of the office building. Harvey practically towed Mike through the lobby with a firm grip on his elbow. Once in the elevator, Mike blinked and shook his head.
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing.” Harvey was texting again, all his attention in his phone. The elevator dinged as they arrived and Harvey dragged him into his office and pushed him down on the couch. “You can work there. Start drawing up that contract for the Vandenburg merger.”
Mike tried to get up. Harvey put one hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down. “Where do you think you’re going?”
Mike squinted up at Harvey. “I need my laptop.”
Harvey seemed stymied for a moment. “Use mine.” He went to his desk and began to take it out of the docking station.
Mike blinked. Harvey was acting seriously weird. “Don’t you need your computer?”
Harvey glared at him. “If I did, I wouldn’t be letting you use it.”
“My laptop is right at my desk, why can’t I go get it?”
“You know what, forget about your computer. Here,” Harvey grabbed a stack of files off the corner of his desk and dropped them on Mike’s lap. “Here, start going through these. I’ll be right back. Do not leave this office.”
“Harvey!” But Harvey had already walked out. Mike sighed. Donna wasn’t at her desk so he couldn’t even ask her what was going on. He sighed, then shrugged off his jacket, and began to roll up his shirtsleeves. He picked up a file and started reading.
About ten minutes passed, and there was a knock at the door. It was then pushed open by a young woman with short blond hair. “Hi,” she said uncertainly. “I’m from Judge Markoff’s office. I have a delivery for Harvey Specter.”
Mike jumped to his feet. “Oh, yes, he was expecting something. I can sign for it.”
She bit her lip. “Actually I need to give it directly to him. I can wait.”
“Oh, okay.” They stood for a long moment in awkward silence. “He should be right back.”
“Great.” Another awkward pause. “So,” she added, with the pained air of someone desperate to fill the silence, “Crazy day, huh?”
Mike had returned to the couch. “Oh, it hasn’t been too bad. Have you been busy?”
“Oh yeah, it’s been nuts. People have been frantic about--”
Harvey strode back into the room. “Mike, aren’t you supposed to be working?”
Mike rolled his eyes and turned back to the files.
“Mr. Specter?” The messenger asked. “I have a delivery from Judge Markoff’s office.”
“Finally,” Harvey muttered. He practically snatched the envelope from the woman’s hands.
“Everyone’s been pretty anxious to get these today,” the messenger offered as Harvey scribbled his signature on the receipt.
“Yes, thank you.” Harvey said curtly, handing the paperwork and pen back to her. “We won’t be keeping you, then.”
Mike raised his eyebrows. It was highly unusual for Harvey to be so rude, and especially to a pretty woman. She didn’t seem offended though. She actually laughed and said, “Congratulations,” as she left.
Harvey retreated back to his desk. Mike glanced at him. “What was that about?” Harvey didn’t even appear to have heard him. He tore open the envelope and flipped through the enclosed pages, then sighed.
Mike went back to the files. He was surprised when Harvey suddenly sat down next to him. He dropped one of his hands on Mike’s knee.
Mike blinked. “Harvey, what is it?”
“Mike, I have something to tell you.” Harvey looked down and then back up at his face. “There was an announcement today. It passed.”
“What passed? What are you talking about?”
“The Order for the Assignment and Direction of Subs. The official decree came out at noon.”
Mike felt the blood drain out of his face. “What! It passed? That goes up every year and it’s never come close before.”
“I’m sorry, Mike.” Harvey’s brown eyes were soft and full of concern, but Mike knew that he couldn’t really understand. He was a Dom; there was no way he could.
“Jesus.” Mike bolted up from the couch. “I have to get out of here. I have to--”
“Mike, calm down--”
“Harvey, I am about to be assigned to some stranger for the rest of my life.” He began to pace. “Canada. I should go to Canada. They have a long history of protecting Sub rights. Maybe once there I can--”
“You are not going to Canada. Sit down, Mike.” Mike’s knees bent automatically and he collapsed on the couch.
“Harvey, you don’t understand. I don’t want a Dom, someone controlling everything I do for the rest of my life. I didn’t ask to be born this way. I’ve fought against it my entire life.” He looked up, a new thought suddenly occurring to him. “God, I’m not even going to be able to work for you anymore.” This realization brought on a fresh wave of grief.
“Of course you’re still going to work for me.”
“How? No Dom would tolerate his Sub working such long hours for another Dom.”
“There’s not going to be another Dom.”
“What do you…?” Mike began. Harvey handed over pages he had received from the messenger. Mike scanned them quickly.
“You?” he gasped. “You’ve claimed me? You’re my Dom?”
“So you see, you have nothing to worry about.”
“Nothing- Harvey, this- you can’t…” Mike’s words stuttered to a halt. Images were flooding Mike’s brain. Him and Harvey together all the time. A permanent relationship, one that wouldn’t end when they finally got found out. Mike wouldn’t have to worry about Harvey abandoning him. Something warm flared up in his chest, but he ruthlessly stamped it down.
“But I don’t want a Dom,” he echoed lamely.
“You need one, though. This is the best arrangement for both of us.”
Mike laughed bitterly. “Sure, it works for you. Now you can work me 24 hours a day.” He had a sudden vision of Harvey piling him with briefs while he went to wine and dine some beautiful woman. “Whatever limited power I had in this relationship is gone.”
Harvey’s face suddenly became angry. “You have some strange ideas about what a Dom/Sub relationship is like.”
“I know enough.” Mike got to his feet and Harvey rose with him.
“You have no idea. You’ve never been with a Dom. Do you really think I would treat you like a slave? After everything I have done for you, every risk I have taken?”
Mike paused. “Are you actually claiming that nothing’s going to change?”
“Everything’s going to change, but it’s going to be better than you think.”
Harvey walked over to him, looming to Mike’s space. His hand wrapped around the back of Mike’s neck. He squeezed firmly and Mike’s heart jerked in his chest and started pounding hard.
“It’s not like--”
“You’ve been mine since the moment you walked into that interview and dropped fifty grand worth of pot all over the floor. Mine. All this is going to do is formalize it.”
Mike opened his mouth, but no words came out.
“Tell me. Say you’re mine.”
There was a long pause before Mike shook his head mutely.
He was expecting anger or disappointment, but Harvey only smiled. “We’ll work on it. Let’s go home.”
“Home? You mean to your place?”
“Of course.”
“You’ve barely let me in your front door before.”
Harvey smiled. “That was before.” He met Mike’s eyes. “Come on, Mike. Let’s go home.” He grabbed his briefcase and walked out the door, leaving Mike to follow him.
Mike gulped. This was it. He could run now. He’d probably get caught and brought back, but he could try. Make an effort. He should go. He’d never wanted a Dom, and the thought of one still terrified him… But, this was Harvey. Harvey wanted him. Wanted to take him home.
Mike sighed. There was no way he could walk away from Harvey. He picked up his bag and followed Harvey out the door.