Author's Notes:

I was thinking about the meeting with his Mother in 6.12. That's the thing when you fold that kind of situation - however expertly done - into only one episode. It leaves your mind reeling for weeks and well into the following the episodes. And the fact that Marcus and Harvey aren't as close as they should be, and that actually Donna knows barely anything about Marcus and hasn't met him before is also an interesting choice.

Also, someone said something on Tumblr about if Gordon and Lilly had spoken about Donna and Harvey. I like that idea. #stoled

Blue - (Sequel to Red)

By Atheniandream

Donna wants to go home. Now.

Her lips are tingling, and that frustrating red headed gene of hers has her face involuntarily flushed.

She can see it in Harvey's features, as her eyes flick to hers for a moment, that silent push and pull existing between them,

That he will thwart any attempts at an escape...

She realises then,

That they're in this, for the long haul.

She sighs, her eyes moving to the salt and pepper haired woman smirking between them.

"Please come in," She welcomes eventually, a kindness in her eyes, even if the back of them betray some intrigue and a strangely maternal interest that counters the greeting.

She straightens, watching as Harvey - ever the gentleman - ushers her in first, not far behind though as their hands slip out of one another's and his fingers brush against her back.

She observes his Mother wander down the hall, as his brother lingers in the entryway.

"Donna," He greets warmly, his arms moving up to touch her shoulder as he plants a kiss on her cheek. "Great to finally meet you."

She smiles in return, looking into the familiar seeming blues of the original 'puppy dog himself'. "Hey Marcus, you too." She greets. "It's nice to finally put a face to the name."

"Oh, don't tell me," He chuckles, regarding Harvey, a slick smile on his face. "I'll bet my older brother here has said all kinds of nice things about me," He smirks, that rougher round the edges humour that Harvey seldom dips into.

"Only the really nice things," Harvey chimes in, before squeezing his brother's shoulder a little too hard, for his earlier infraction. "And lay off the 'older', Asshole," He warns.

"Ah!" Marcus exclaims in jest as he nudges his brother's bad shoulder deliberately. "Stop showing off in front of your girlfriend!" He accuses, a playful smile on this lips, as Donna chuckles softly, watching the two of them at play.

Harvey rolls his eyes, rubbing at his shoulder. "Just because Katie has you whipped." He remarks, a gussy about him until he finally observes Donna's reaction to his comment.

"I tried to resist you," He adds, giving her a withering look.

"Hmm. I noticed." She smirks, her eyes narrowing as she allow him to take her hand again, following his brother in the direction that his Mother went.

It's odd seeing Harvey this way, a bridge between the old him, the work him, the new version of themselves that now sleep in each other's bed at night, and the family him that he had left behind so long ago. All four separate and yet still interlinked versions of the man she knows, and now watching, as he slowly sews them all into one, newer version of himself.

They convene in the lounge, an eclectic mixture of art works, one of kind seeming pieces,

And a strange sense of middle america about the home. You could tell that this woman lived her life abridging her world with the world of someone who had an acquired and yet understated taste. It was a homey and yet intriguingly decorated space.

Not long before Harvey slides next to her on the couch, his warmth familiar and settling, does his Mother appear from the kitchen, looking squarely at her.

"Donna, would you mind helping me bring in a few things?" She asks.

"Uh...sure." She replies, looking to Harvey briefly, before rising to follow the smaller woman, leaving Marcus and Harvey to their own devices.

She wanders behind the Lilly, as she sets down various plates onto a kitchen island, gradually making her way around her kitchen.

Before Donna is even able to utter a word, along the lines of a general cordiality about her surroundings, the older woman starts to speak.

"So, you're the one that told Harvey to make it right with me?" She observes for a moment, before continuing.

Wow. Straight to the point, she thinks, taking in a breath. "Yes. I was." She nods, trying to belie that tense feeling that falls into her gut. "I figured that it was about time that he focused on his family."

"I'll bet that wasn't easy to get him to do." Lilly smirks, an understanding in her eyes.

Donna chuckles at the shared sentiment. If there was one thing that Harvey was universally known for it was being stubborn. "Actually...you'd be surprised." She counters. "Harvey trusts me. And I don't often say things to him without good reason."

"Hmm." Lilly observes, smiling. "Good. That's good." She nods, pausing from her task to walk up to the redhead. "Thank you, for what it's worth." She tells her, the sentiment held and rare.

"You're welcome." She half smiles, watching the woman glide back to the task at hand, before another thought occurs, and she pauses. "Oh, and...welcome to the family." She finally says.

"Thanks." Donna remarks, before she starts to gain a little piece of her old self back. "Now, obviously you didn't ask me in here to help with snacks, but….do you need a hand?" She enquires, watching the woman load up the plates.

She pauses again, regarding Donna with a smile. "I need a bowl," She points. "Third shelf in that cupboard.

Donna nods.

She's never felt so juvenile.

And she can see, for the first time, where Harvey gets that piercing stare of his.

"So, Brother," Marcus regards, handing Harvey one of the beers that rest on a nearby table, as he takes it, opening the cap in his hand. "This is the famous Donna, huh?"

"Yep." Harvey pops, watching his brother with a steely look.

He knows what his brother is going to say. He may not have seen him as often in the last decade, but Marcus's habit has always been to poke fun of Harvey's softer side. Mostly because he hardly ever saw it, but also because Harvey had a way of holding it, like a precious virtue.

He could see the mirth in his brother's eyes, see his understanding at just how important it was that he brought Donna here today.

"Didn't realise you had a thing for redheads," Marcus plays, squaring a look at his brother.

"Really?" Harvey counters, narrows his eyes, readying himself for the assault.

"You know...apart from Jessie Green in the sixth grade…"

Of course, he thinks. Jessie Green. The only other redhead he'd ever fallen for…

Harvey rolls his eyes, taking another swig of his beer. "I was eleven years old!" He argues. "And how do you even remember that, you were like five!"

"Dad used to compare the two,"

His words hit as a sobering remembrance of the man that is now not with them.

"What do you mean compare the two?" Harvey frowns, looking to his brother.

"Compare the two what?"

He straightens, in hearing her familiar tone as she glides past him in a muddle of red and his favourite colour on her - bottle green - as she places a bowl of chips and a bowl of crackers on the already full glass coffee table.

"Oh...just Harvey's first crush." Marcus explains.

"And the second?" She asks, her eyes flicking between an eager looking Marcus, and a reticent looking Harvey.

"You." Marcus smirks, looking to Donna. "He's always had a...thing for redheads…" Marcus plays, smirking behind his beer.

"Asshole." Harvey mouthes before watching Donna sit down next to him, just as his Mother re-enters the room, carrying a glass of wine, which she hands to Donna.

"Marcus, stop picking on your brother." Lilly scolds, tapping Marcus's foot off of the edge of her coffee table. "And speaking of, where is Katie? She's late." She regards, before taking a seat.

"I told you, she's picking up the kids." He answers soundly, before his attention focuses back on his older brother.

Harvey's eyes narrow, before he sits a little straighter. "Come on, Mark. Get it all out."

"What?" Marcus shrugs, before smiling purposefully at Donna.

"I know you've never really had the opportunity before...so...get it all out."

"Get what out?" Marcus replies, feigning ignorance like a practiced professional.

"Making fun of me...bringing home a girl. Come on, let it out."

"Well...I guess there was Scottie,"

Harvey's body stiffens next to Donna's, giving the impulse to turn to him as he leans back on the couch, his arm sliding behind her.

"Scottie, huh?" Donna remarks, earning a amazed look from the man next to her.

"Who's Scottie?" Lily asks, gaining the abrupt attention of everyone in the room.

Out of the three of them, Donna manages to be the first person off the block. "Scottie was..I guess the first love of Harvey's life. They dated back at Harvard, and then they just...never managed to make it work after that." She explains. Her eyes flick to Harvey's to observe the strangely silent thanks at delicate approach to the subject, as he squeezes her side.

"Wait. You know Scottie?" Marcus asks, his expression morphing from shock to intrigue.

"Of course I know Dana. I know her well. She and Harvey battled several cases since we started working at the firm. She even joined us when our firms merged briefly."

"Wow. So I guess it's a small world up there in New York City, huh?" Marcus regards, starting to backtrack on his earlier assault.

Donna felt a frown forming. Exactly how much did these people know about Harvey? And how much were they unaware of? She knew that this meeting would be odd. Their little world, both together and at work had existed for so long, and with only Gordon Specter as a bridge. For the first time since she'd arrived, she suddenly feels like another bridge. Harvey Specter on one side, and The Specter family on the other.

"Harvey," She pauses, turning to him for a moment in the presence of his remaining family to touch his free hand. "This is going to sound weird, right now, no less than half an hour after we've arrived," She indicates to Harvey and herself. "But I figure...that there's a gap, of information, between all of us?" She regards the others. "So, whilst it's just the four of us, and if Harvey doesn't mind, I think…that it would be good for us to catch up, as it were. You can ask me whatever you need, and we can fill in with the things that are missing." She options. "Because, I didn't just meet Harvey yesterday, and you're his only family." She reasons. She pauses, turning to her other half. "So...Harvey?"

"Why do I think that I don't have a choice in this?" He sighs, his smile straining despite the warm, relinquishing look in his eyes at her unusual proposal.

"Okay," She resolves, looking to Lily and Marcus. "Shoot."

Lilly sits forward, her brain occupying a question. "How long have you two know one another?"

"Almost...fourteen years this July." She answers, sharing a short confirmation with Harvey.

"Where did you meet?" She asks next.

"Harvey and I first worked together at...the DA's office. And then...we left the DA's office," She chooses to omit the 'other time'. "And then he asked me to come to Pearson Hardman with him. I have been his Assistant throughout that time."

"Executive," Harvey adds, with a secret smirk.

"Wait. Isn't that a little weird for you two?" Marcus chimes in.

"Well...the thing is...I don't really work there now. I left. Sort of, about six weeks ago. But...Harvey and I had...an iron clad arrangement, that we kept things strictly professional the entire time. And we did." She notes, looking briefly to the man next to her. "Until...with realised that...it...wasn't strictly professional anymore."

"Fourteen Years is a long time. To work with someone if there is the potential for more." Lilly adds, looking between them.

"It is. But...we were never like other Lawyers and their Assistants."

"I can see that." Lilly muses, observing the pair.

"I used to talk to Gordon, most weeks." Donna jumps the subject then, looking to his Brother. "Which is why, Marcus, I know all your dirty little secrets…" She accuses playfully, a kempt eyebrow raising the accusation further.

"What?" Marcus laughs, his hand flattening against his chest with a coyness. "Like What?"

"Like how when you were seven and Harvey was thirteen you used to steal the washing from your neighbour's yard and blame it on your dog!"

"Oh my god, Dad told you about that?" Marcus laughs, the disbelief etching his voice.

"He was always telling me stories as he waited for Harvey to be available." She reminisces.

"I think Gordon mentioned you once." Lilly chimes in.

Her brow furrows, as she looks to Harvey's Mother for clarification.

"When things between us had settled; when we had found a common ground and could be friends again, Gordon used to speak of a vibrant assistant of Harvey's that he used to speak to regularly." She explains.

"Really?"

"I got the impression that Gordon adored you."

"I really miss our conversations." She nods, regarding the familiar feeling between them both.

"So Donna, what was it like working for the biggest jack ass in the city?" Marcus asks, inferring his brother.

"Hey! I am here you know!" Harvey barked grumpily, earning a sympathetic look from Donna, as her hand found his thigh and his expression softened.

"Harvey is...demanding, and precise and likes things...the way he likes them." She offers, restraining the intricate details of shopping excursions and can openers and rituals.

"Yep. That's Harvey alright." Marcus smiles, squaring another look at his brother.

"But," She adds. "He's also kind. And generous and...you know, you should come to the firm some time." She offers, looking at Lilly briefly. "He has your painting on his wall, in replacement of the one that was lost." She explains, before looking to Marcus. "And he has all of your Father's records in an enormous collection that covers literally one wall in his office."

"Of which several are scratched because Donna has a nasty little habit of-" Harvey chimes up, only to have his comment cut short by Donna squeezing his thigh in protest.

"Miles Davis," He accuses through a sharpening jaw and just a touch of playfulness.

"Are you ever going to let me live that down?" She asks, giving him a look that he eagerly throws back at her.

"Never." He counters, before his face sobers. "But she's right, you should. It's my firm now, and it'd be nice to...show you both around."

"I think we'd love that." Lilly smiles kindly, looking to her sons with a mixture of subtext.

As he hears the door go, and Marcus rises, muttering something about his wife and kids, Harvey realises what his Mother's face reads.

She is...happy. His Mother is happy.

And the entire room is aware that...Donna...is a keeper.

It's only then that he finally begins to relax.

She feels like she's having an out of body experience when she offers to go and fetch the wine from the kitchen. Anything to keep herself busy in this stranger than usual 'meet the family' type situation.

They're still only just getting to know Harvey, and visa versa he's only just starting to understand how he fits into this family that has developed in his absence.

Katie is nice, with her two little blonde girls that she fawns over. In a way, Katie reminds her of Rachel in the same way that Marcus reminds her of Mike. She understands now after all this time the parallels that existed with their work family and his own one.

Harvey was always a family man. He just...made up this own in the absence of the original.

She finds herself half occupied as she peers into the fridge, searching for any remnants of Rose, before two familiar hands slide against her back.

"Hey you,"

She sighs, straightening fully, as she feels his welcome breath on her neck, a slightly heavy beer smell as he kisses her just below the jawline.

"Will you stop doing that," She half scolds, as his arms fold around her waist.

"Doing what?" He asks, the suggestion thick in his voice.

"Trying to turn me on in public."

"I can't help it if you're just naturally attracted to me." He muses.

"That. Or you're a horndog?" She accuses, turning around in his arms to face him.

He gives her a withering look before kissing her soundly, his lips pressing against hers with just the right amount of pressure to linger for a moment.

That was his main objective, she realises, as his stills against her, her arms sliding up to his grey sweater clad shoulders.

"You okay?" He asks her.

"I'm fine." She smiles. "I hope I didn't say too much?" She asks, her face bending self-consciously.

"Wait. Is this you...apologising?" He enquires, an excitement in his eyes as he looks to her. "Is there a comet...overhead?" He asks, pretending to look up.

She rolls her eyes, swatting his chest. "Don't be cocky. It's just that-"

"Donna," He interrupts, a soothing nature to his voice. "It's fine. It was bound to happen...this is just about everybody...getting on the same page." He insists, his hands sliding up her arms as an attempt at comfort.

"Good." She nods, breathing in his cologne as she rests the side of her forehead against his neck. "And no...I wasn't apologising…" She remarks, her eyebrow sharpening for effect before disconnecting from him. "Now, I really need to pick out this wine, otherwise I'm going to literally freeze my ass off." She quips, her hand pulling at the middle of his sweater, as she fishes out an adequate white wine nestling in the refrigerator door shelf.

When she turns around and notices Harvey still lingering in the kitchen she pauses, getting the sense that he is stalling, until Bobby enters.

Her Mother's Husband.

She knits an understanding together there and then.

She hadn't expected Bobby to be so quiet. Perhaps a little reserved, maybe, but not quite as stoic as he had seemed. Gordon was different, more animated and chatty. But then again he had lost his wife and his eldest somewhere along the way. This man had gotten what he wanted, but at a price. And judging by the slightly awkward handshake when he had arrived not longer after Katie, Donna could tell that he and Harvey's relationship was still in its interim phase. No doubt he'd had a run in with Harvey over the years.

She looks to Harvey, a silent understanding of the task at hand before she looks at Bobby, her face becoming animated. "Does Lilly like Pinot Grigio? I couldn't find the rest of the Rose," She shrugs bashfully.

Bobby pauses, his features softening as he regards her. "Oh, she'll drink anything if she's got a partner in crime." He smirks. "Pinot's fine."

She nods, gliding out of the hall to leave them to their own devices.

She hopes that Harvey does the right thing.

Otherwise she'll be the first roadblock in his path…

He takes a breath before turning around.

He had planned to speak to the man earlier in the day, assuming that he would have been there when they had arrived, but then Katie and the kids had bundled in before him, giving focus to the children and them meeting Donna for the first time.

He and Bobby had never gotten on. However, he hadn't realised just how permanent this man had been in his Mother's life. In his life. Now when he looks back, it seems as if Bobby was always around.

But now, despite how he had felt, it was time to draw the line under that and build a civility between them.

"Hey Bobby," He says, looking to the older man.

"Harvey," He nods.

"I was hoping we could...talk?" Harvey offers, a guarded expression on his face.

He watches the old man observe him for a moment, before nodding slowly. "Sure Harvey...what do you want to talk about?"

"I never really got the chance. last time...to say that...I apologize, for only ever seeing you a certain way."

Bobby took a moment, blinking as if to save himself the time for thought before finally speaking. "I...accept your apology Harvey. And I'm glad that you came here today. It really means the world to your Mother."

"Yeah." He nods. "I know."

"And I guess...the last time I saw you, I was looking out for Lilly. But I guess I never really apologised….for...letting the situation with your Mom and Dad affect you, the way it did." He pauses briefly before Harvey can respond. "What happened, happened. I played a part in that. And it was hard on us all. But you should never have had to be involved in that. And for that I'm sorry, too." He says. "I hope...now, that you'll stick around. For your Mom and for Marcus."

He looks into the eyes of the older man.

He never thought that there would be a time where he would be able to look this man in the eye and not feel resentment for all that had come before...

How times had really changed.

"I will. Thankyou, Bobby." He nods, his hand extended.

He sighs when Bobby doesn't hesitate to shake it in return.

"And Donna is...lovely." He compliments.

"Yeah. She is." He agrees, half chuckling to himself.

"I actually came in for a beer. You want?" Bobby offers, waving the empty beer bottle in his hand.

"Yeah. That'd be great." Harvey accepts, watching the older man pass to open his refrigerator.

"You guys staying a Marcus' tonight?" Bobby asks, fishing around in the cold shelves.

"Yeah. He wouldn't let me book the four seasons this time." He remarks, a knowing glance towards the man.

"Yeah, he's just...missed his older brother, that's all." The man notes, stretching to hand a beer to Harvey.

Any other time he would have reacted to the manipulation. To the mere suggestions.

But this time, there wasn't one.

The man was right.

He was long overdue on stepping up as a Brother,

As a son.

And possibly a few other things.

As always, feed the kitty!

I think this will be a very brief 3-parter.

A _