Authors note: This chapter still takes place in flashback but brings us back to present day of Chapter 1. Additional notes (and profuse apologies) below.

Chapter 7: Vesuvius

Although he had not yet made Senior Partner at Pearson-Hardman, Louis Litt was a fairly wealthy man by Junior Partner standards. The same financial savvy that had propelled his career was also responsible for the Jaguar XK that he was currently parking in the underground parking garage. He took his usual space near the wall, grimacing in trepidation at the space next to his, realizing he wouldn't know till the end of the day if its occupant was of the careful or clumsy variety. He had completed a few strides to the elevator when his phone chirped with a text message.

My office. 8:00. –Jessica

His mind automatically delved into any negative reason Jessica might want to meet with him, but he was drawing a blank. The Carlisle case was as going as well as expected, and the two mergers he was overseeing were too preliminary in their planning to warrant a progress report. He shrugged and continued on his way to his office.

He detoured through the bull pen as he always did, a not so subtle reminder to the underlings that he was keeping an eye on them. He immediately noted two things: His protégé, Gregory, was suddenly engrossed at his desk, nervously shuffling papers. Second, it was 7:30 in the morning and Mike Ross' cubicle was untouched.

"Gregory, where the hell is Ross?" He said, digging his phone out of his pocket to personally chide the younger associate.

Gregory's head snapped up and gave him his most pleading don't-kill-the-messenger stare. "He's not here," said Gregory, obviously hoping to delay the inevitable by even a few seconds.

"I can see that, Genius," said Louis, growing irritated. "Son of a bitch," he added. "Don't tell me he's in Harveys' office."

"He's- He's down on fourth working with Bill Mackey." At Louis' incredulous look, Gregory added, "Harvey pulled him out of here about half an hour ago."

What the hell was Ross doing working with the sole member/figurehead of Pearson Hardman's Environmental Law division? He didn't' know much about the man, other than the fact that Harvey and Bill Mackey had roomed together for a short time at Harvard. If Harvey was the type to have a best friend, Mackey would have fit the bill. He shook his head derisively at Harvey's feeble attempt to renege on their deal, and he headed down to fourth.

"Louis! Good to see you," said Mackey, ever polite. He wasn't the type Louis would have expected to form a lasting friendship with Harvey. He had a tall lanky frame, thick framed glasses, and an easy smile. He reminded Louis of Jeff Goldblum.

"Hey, Bill," said Louis. "I heard a rumor that Mike Ross was hiding out down here." Louis didn't fail to notice that Bill's easy smile slipped a small bit at his last words. He continued in a low, conspiratorial voice, "I don't know if you've heard, but Harvey lost a bet, and Ross is supposed to be compiling witness testimony for me for the rest of the week."

"He's here," said Mackey, "but he's not going anywhere." He moved a step to the left as Louis attempted to walk over to the small conference room off Mackey's office.

"Bill," said Louis condescendingly. "I think we both know that this is one of Harvey's little stunts. The sooner Ross gets back up to my office and gets back to work on the depositions, the sooner I forget this whole thing ever happened."

Mackey continued to smile at him but he was surprised at the steel that was suddenly behind his eyes. His voice dropped softly and he said with sadness, "You're going to want to let this go, Louis."

"Let it go?" said Louis, his anger winning out over his last attempt at civility. "Did Harvey tell you about our deal? I'm not going to stand by and be jerked around again by that arrogant –"

"Louis, you really need to let this go," interrupted Mackey. "You've done enough damage already." He glanced at his watch. "And I believe you're going to be late for an appointment."

Louis blanched at the last half of his statement. "What do you mean by that? Done what damage?" he said, dumbfounded. He wasn't sure if he was more surprised by that statement or by the fact that Mackey obviously knew why Jessica wanted to see him. This was not good.

"What the hell is going on?" he said uncertainly.

"You didn't know," said Mackey, mulling over the idea in his head. "I'll tell them that, if it helps," he said, with a kindness that chilled Louis to the bone. "Best get going, he added, tapping his watch."

Louis got on the elevator, marveling at the irony that as he rose to the twenty-fifth floor, he was simultaneously falling down the rabbit hole.

* o * o * o * o *

His second indication that things were not going to go well that morning was the death glare from Donna as she passed him in the hallway. He had thought for a moment about trying to coax her into giving him a clue as to what the meeting with Jessica was about, but the utter contempt in her eyes told him he wouldn't get very far. What the hell was going on?

He was not surprised to see Harvey in Jessica's office as he made his way down the hall, but he was surprised to see Harvey pacing the room like a caged tiger. He was shaking his head, and it almost appeared as if Jessica was trying to calm him down.

"The gang's all here, I see," he said flatly as he made his way into Jessica's office.

"You son of a bitch," said Harvey by way of greeting. He took a step towards Louis but was steered to a chair by Jessica's firm grasp of his shoulder.

"Harvey, no," she said dangerously. "We're having this conversation sitting down, for obvious reasons," she muttered the latter under her breath.

"Louis?" she gestured to a spot on the sofa and took a seat next to Harvey. It didn't escape Louis that she had placed him in her usual spot, separated from Harvey by an art deco coffee table.

"Someone want to tell me what the hell is going on around here?" said Louis, on the defensive. He had seen Harvey angry plenty of times, but there was currently a murderous look on his face, and Louis was unnerved. "And while you're at it, you want to tell me why one of my associates is down on fourth doing Google searches for Bill Mackey instead of processing witness testimony?"

He was trying to stay on the offensive, but he knew he had made a mistake the moment Harvey leapt out of his chair and Jessica stepped between them.

"First of all," said Harvey acidly, "he's not your associate. Not now, not ever." He picked up a document from the coffee table and handed it to Louis. Notice of Reassignment. "As of this morning, I'm officially the sole supervisor of record. He reports to me." Harvey's tone dropped menacingly and he whispered, "You so much as ask him to pick up a paper clip, and I'll file a workplace harassment suit against you so fast it will make your head spin."

"Jessica," he said incredulously, "you can't be going along with this?" He was shocked to find nothing but disapproval on her face, and it was entirely directed at him.

"I can, and I am," she said evenly.

"The oversight of the new associates is under my purview," he said hotly. "You can't pick and choose which associates are in the club and which aren't. This is a matter for a senior partners meeting, " he said huffily. "I'll call one myself."

"No need," said Harvey smugly. "You've already got a meeting at 2 pm tomorrow."

"Harvey," said Jessica, her tone reprimanding.

"What is he talking about," said Louis, his stomach sinking.

"Harvey has filed a formal complaint alleging supervisory misconduct," said Jessica. It was clear from her tone that she had tried to talk him out of it, but that the matter also concerned her. "You will appear before the assembled Senior Partners tomorrow and make a statement before we deliberate on whether to take disciplinary action."

"Disciplinary action?" said Louis, reeling. "For what?" he said angrily to Harvey. "I made you give up your Golden Boy for a week and now you're retaliating with a smear campaign? That's pretty low, Harvey, even for you."

"You know what's low, Lous?" said Harvey, the reasonable tone of his voice far more sinister than the anger that infused it a moment ago. "Making a kid whose parents were killed in a drunk driving rollover relive the accident for hours at a time, just for spite."

"Harvey what the hell are you talking about?" said Louis, genuinely confused. He hadn't deposed witnesses in any drunk driving case for some time, let alone children. "Are you somehow talking about the Carlisle case? We didn't depose the son, he's still in the hospital."

"My God, you really are an idiot," said Harvey, rubbing his eyes in frustration.

"Harvey," warned Jessica.

Harvey glared at Louis and said with soft venom, "Do you know that it took the paramedics two hours to get Mike out of the SUV? Do you know what happens to a ten-year-old when he watches his parents die in front of him?"

"Mike?" said Louis. "Shit. You're talking about Mike Ross?"

"The only thing I asked you to do was to keep him away from one goddamned trial, Louis." said Harvey. "And you couldn't even do that."

"I didn't know," Louis bristled. "You could have told me."

"He shouldn't have to, Louis," said Jessica, startling him, as he had forgotten she was there.

"The kid is going to have to deal with these kinds of cases sooner or later," said Louis, trying in vain to mount a defense once more.

In answer, Harvey pulled a manila folder off of the coffee table and handed it to him.

"What is this?" said Louis, scanning several pages worth of summary judgements.

"Apparently, both OSHA and the Department of Labor has quite a bit to say about exacerbating PTSD in the workplace. You're little attempt at giving Mike a thick skin could cost this firm dearly in punitive damages."

"You're bringing me up before the Board because you think I gave Mike PTSD? Oh please, Harvey. The kid is obviously playing you like a Stradivarius."

"Do you have any idea what you did to him?" said Harvey softly, the sudden concern in his voice melted some of Louis' cynicism.

"Harvey," said Louis, his tone conciliatory now. "I wouldn't have- if you had just told me."

"It's done," said Jessica, "and now we deal with the fallout. Louis, you're to report to the 15th floor conference room at 2 pm tomorrow. Please prepare a summary of events for the Partners inquiry. You will also apologize to Mike Ross-", she paused as she exchanged a look with Harvey, "in Harvey's office. After that, you will leave the kid alone. And I do mean entirely, utterly alone."

"Jessica, you can't be serious about this," said Louis pleadingly. "Okay I screwed up, but this doesnn't need to become a thing."

"It already is, Louis," said Jessica, reflexively glancing at Harvey. "It's Harvey's right as a Senior Partner to convene a meeting for disciplinary review, and he has chosen to exercise that right. I'm not going to let this become another tool in the feud between you two, but given the potential repercussions of your actions, I'm supporting him on this."

"Okay then," said Louis, not bothering to hide the defeat in his voice. He said evenly, "If there's nothing else?"

Jessica excused him and he was unaware of the building around him as he reflexively made his way back to his office.

* o * o * o * o *

The unscheduled meeting of the Senior Partners was officially supposed to be kept confidential, but the news leaked, courtesy of the administrative assistants, to the associate bullpen later that evening. The younger Pearson-Hardman employees were afraid of Louis' vindictive streak, and spoke about the situation only in hushed tones, until they had been alerted he had left the building.

The gossip continued by tweet and text into the evening, and by the early morning it was the biggest unspoken topic of the day. Since Louis had found himself suddenly shorthanded, Mike's work had been piled on to the plates of Gregory and Kyle. They were still at their cubicles from the night before, bleary-eyed trying to make their imposed deadlines.

"You realize this is all Ross' fault," said Gregory bitterly, as he scanned another transcript of witness testimony. He wouldn't have dared been so outspoken in the office later in the day, but at 5:15, they might well have been the only people in the building.

"Either he's faking it, or the guy is softer than a loaf of white bread," said Kyle, chuffing in sarcasm.

"Oh he's faking it alright," said Gregory. "He knows that Daddy will come running in to save the day, and he can go back to his cushy workload instead of doing some real work."

"I'd really like to expose him for the fraud he is," said Kyle. "Arrogant bastard."

"Let's." said Gregory.

"What?"

"Let's find out. In a few hours." Gregory was silent a moment. "Do you still have all the audio from the Wilson family?"

"Yeah," said Kyle. "Wish I didn't though. What are you going to do?" he said suspiciously.

"Oh nothing," said Gregory. "Just change the sound notifications on Ross's computer."

"Your'e not going to do what I think you're going to do," said Kyle. "Specter told you he'd fire you the next time you messed with Ross' computer."

"It's 5 am, who the hell is going to find out? Here, email me the files."

* o * o * o * o *

Although Ray said it was entirely unnecessary, Mike apologized to Ray for the third time that week. He genuinely liked the man, and thought it was ridiculous for him to go out of his way to transport Mike the six blocks that he could have easily biked instead.

Mackey had sent him home early yesterday after a short pep talk. He had overheard the exchange with Louis and had been unsettled for the better part of two hours. Someone else had followed up later that evening with a phone call.

"Are you okay?" said Harvey by way of greeting.

"Yeah," said Mike.

"I heard Louis paid Bill a visit," said Harvey.

"Nothing Bill couldn't handle," said Mike affectionately. "He's a good guy."

"Yeah he is," said Harvey. "Listen, Louis has been expressly told to stay away from you. He's up before the Senior Partners at 2 pm tomorrow."

"Harvey, don't take this the wrong way, and don't think I'm not grateful for everything you did for me, but is this a little… extreme?"

"It's posturing, Mike," said Harvey. "That's all it is. I'm likely to get a slap on the wrist for wasting the Senior Partners' time, but it's a real offense, and it's on record." He got very quite for a moment and then added in a soft voice, "This feud between us, somehow it….escalated. I don't know why, but it did. And you're in the middle. I didn't want that…"

Mike wasn't sure he should ask the question, but he said, "Do you somehow think this is your fault?"

By way of answer, Harvey merely said, "I'm glad your okay. I'll see you tomorrow. My office, 7:30." And Mike was left with silence.

* o * o * o * o *

Mike made his way to his desk and couldn't shake that feeling. The one that said that there was something he should pay attention to. It came from the silent glances as he walked to his desk, the complete lack of eye contact between himself and the rest of the associates.

He had just reached his computer when Harvey appeared from out of nowhere. His smile died when he saw the frown on Harvey's face, and the man that was standing next to him.

"Mike, let that go," said Harvey nonchalantly, as Mike reached for the on switch on his computer. "Benjamin here is going to give you a new one." Something was definitely going on, though Mike. Harvey pointedly looked at both Benjamin and Kyle as he gestured to the PC that Benjamin was to replace.

"But my data-" said Mike. "Don't worry," said Benjamin, "we'll have it transferred over for you in no time."

"Why don't you go up to my office. Donna will get you started on the settlement letter for Wheeler."

"Okaaay," said Mike, his head spinning. He shot Harvey a nervous glance that said "Am I in trouble?" and relaxed a bit as Harvey's eyes softened slightly and his eyes shifted to the floors above them.

"Okay," he said again, and slid out of the room.

Kyle and Gregory tried to remain distanced from the events going on around them, until Harvey suddenly appeared in their field of view.

"Gentlemen," he said matter-of-factly. You know Benjamin, from IT. Benjamin here is going to swap out Mike's computer for a new one. And if we somehow find any abnormalities associated with the one that is currently on his desk, there will be an investigation. Do I make myself clear?"

They both nodded in terror.

"You have twenty four hours to submit your letters of resignation. I assure you that should the investigation yield any fruit, your legal careers are effectively over." He was at the doorway when he stopped and added, "And in case you're wondering, I am most definitely not faking it."

* o * o * o * o *

Mike made it through a good portion of the morning without incident, until he happened to be passing by Jessica's office and heard the shouting before he saw it. Whatever happened must have been sudden, he thought, as the door to Jessica's office was still open and her AA was nowhere to be seen.

"He can't DO this, Jessica," said Louis angrily.

"He apparently just did," said Jessica, frowning.

Mike was about to continue to the copy room when Louis' next words stopped him in his tracks. "If you let him fire every guy who doesn't bow down to his pet associate, you're not going to have a law firm left." Huffed Louis. "I can't believe you're supporting him on this one."

"I didn't say I was," said Jessica, her voice noncommittal.

"Well what are you saying?"

"I'm saying I'll consider the matter once I have all the facts at hand."

"Oh I know what that means," said Louis, rolling his eyes in disgust.

"Louis, enough with the jealous sibling routine," said Jessica, giving him a piercing glance. "It doesn't become you, and I know you're better than that."

Something passed between them that made Louis wring his hands self-consciously, and Mike ducked into the doorway of the copy room as he backed away saying, "Let me know what you decide."

* o * o * o * o *

Mike waited until Harvey had stepped into the elevator before he turned to Donna and said "What the hell is going on with him?"

"What do you mean?" said Donna, looking ather computer inscrutably.

"Rumor has it he tried to fire two of the associates. I can only assume, in light of current events, that it had something to do with me."

"Center of your own universe, are you?" said Donna, as she continued typing.

"I noticed that you are emphatically not denying it," he retorted. "And if anyone knows what is really going on around here, it's you." He noticed the slight smile before her mask slipped back into place.

"Donna come on, this is Harvey…" He didn't add I'm worried about him, but they knew each other well enough that he didn't need to.

"I think this is a conversation better left for Ruby's," she said, referring to a cheap tex mex dive several blocks from the building. "Say, 9:00?"

"You're on.

* o * o * o *

Author's note: Many MANY apologies for the length of time between installments! Real life can be very hard on the muse. I am hoping to finish this up in another chapter or two. Thanks for all the reviews and encouragement!