Mike can't ever remember having respected an authority figure before. He cheated the police and avoided the army like the plague and lied to his teachers and none of that suggested any respect for people who declared themselves above him in any way. Even with Trevor, he only played along with the orders during moments of weakness or stupidity. It was consent, but it was the cheapest form of it possible.

He isn't sure what to do when Harvey is around, because Harvey just so naturally -is- an authority figure in every way, and Mike doesn't think he hates it. He doesn't hate the way Harvey trusts him- in fact, it terrifies him because he wants so badly not to fail Harvey. He doesn't hate the way Harvey tells him to do things without instruction, because it is dismissive and rude and most importantly, it acknowledges the fact that Harvey believes Mike can get things done.

Mike isn't sure how to feel about any of that, because it is almost an unfamiliar feeling to him: genuine responsibility. In the past, the only person he really had to answer to was his grandmother, and the only answers he gave her were lies and half truths. She didn't need to know how he got the money to pay for her care, or why he wasn't able to visit her for days on end as he pulled his latest schemes. But now, Harvey watches him and Mike doesn't want to disappoint him, like an eager schoolchild who wants to present the best work possible to the teacher.

He hopes he doesn't disappoint Harvey.

–

Harvey notices. Of course he notices, because Harvey's job is to notice these sorts of things. He tests Mike by sending him on nearly impossible assignments that he's pretty sure aren't quite impossible for Mike, by frustrating him to the point where he would almost certainly have lost his temper with anyone else. Most notably, after the weed smoking incident, Harvey has Mike agree to strictly personal and voluntary weekly drug testing. Harvey brings up the idea to Mike, saying "I just want to know you're being honest with me" and Mike nods and takes the cup from him every Friday evening.

Mike doesn't fail him, not in that way or in any other. He just keeps getting better, keeps learning, keeps growing to lean on him instead of the bad influences in his earlier days. Harvey feels the weight of the responsibility, and the pleasure of knowing that he is molding a better person. He thinks about the billions of different people Mike could have become, all the paths his life might have taken and all the places it could have ended, and thinks he is incredibly fortunate to have the honor of guiding Mike the right way.

He hopes he doesn't mess it up.

–

Jessica notices, because she was once Harvey's teacher, his authority figure. She thinks that she's maybe a little proud of Harvey for what he's doing. She thinks that she misses the look Mike gives Harvey now, the one that Harvey used to give her. Eagerness, expectation, almost humbleness in a way she can't even dream of associating with Harvey anymore. Mike and Harvey work together in a way that she and Harvey never did or would- Harvey was on the wrong side of the fence, back then.

She hopes to find that pleasure once again someday, somewhere, with someone who will be right for her in every way Harvey could not be.