Written for the suits_exchange on lj

"The first words out of your mouth better be-"

"I'm sorry," Mike said, cutting Harvey off mid-sentence.

"Not that. Sorry doesn't excuse the fact that you were supposed to be in my office ten minutes ago. I just want to hear that you found me precedence."

"I did," Mike said as he shuffled through the stack of papers in his hands, finally finding the right one and holding it out to Harvey proudly.

Harvey took the paper from Mike's hands and gave it a once over before shifting his eyes back up to Mike. "Very good. However it would have been better if it were on my desk ten minutes ago, when I asked you to have it to me."

"Are you serious? It's ten minutes, Harvey. I stayed up all night working on that."

"Oh, you stayed up all night? Well, why didn't you say so? In that case, remind me to have Donna pick up a pack of gold stars that I can give to you each and every time you do your job. You know, the one I hired you to do, and the one you're getting paid to do."

"Funny. So, what are we going to do now?"

"We're not going to do anything, you, however, are going to go back to your desk and work on those Donaldson briefs."

"I can't come with you?"

"Absolutely not."

"Harvey."

"Why are you still talking?"

"Fine," Mike resigned, turning and heading towards the Pearson Hardman building.

"Mike! Actually… come back here for a second."

Mike quickly turned and rushed back to where Harvey was standing.

"I didn't have a chance to," he said, reaching out and taking the coffee Mike had been gripping in his left hand. "All right, now I think we're good here."

"Yeah. Right. Of course. I mean, I didn't want to drink that anyway," Mike said as he watched Harvey walk away from him, sipping at the coffee that had been his own up until a few seconds ago. "And now I'm talking to myself. That's perfect," he said to himself before walking back towards the office.

That was the seventh time Harvey had stolen Mike's coffee. Mike had been keeping a running tally since it had first happened and figured the information would eventually be used in a 'you owe me' type of situation. He decided to attempt to cash in that information a week later when his Grammy had asked, well, demanded rather, that she be able to meet Harvey. He didn't necessarily think a few stolen drinks would be enough to convince Harvey that he really owed him that much of a favor, so he worked well into the morning proofing briefs that weren't due for a week's time, hoping maybe that would be enough to sway him.

Mike stood outside the door of Harvey's office, sucking in a deep breath and trying to mentally pep talk himself into actually going in and asking. He pushed the breath out and opened the door.

"I find it interesting that with that big brain of yours you can never seem to remember to knock," Harvey said immediately, not bothering to glance up. He knew who it was. He always knew when it was Mike.

"Sorry. I did bring a peace offering though," he said, walking over and tossing the briefs down in front of Harvey.

" What's this?"

"The briefs you asked for."

"You finished them already? You didn't have to have these to me until Friday."

"I had some free time, so I figured I'd make the best of it," Mike lied.

Harvey paused a moment. "So, now is the part where you tell me what it is you want."

"What?"

"Don't play stupid, Mike. I know you want something from me."

"You know, most people would just say 'thank you' in this situation."

"Tell me. Now."

Mike let out a defeated sigh. "Fine. It's my Grammy."

"No. She can't move in with me."

"What? Wait...no. Why would she…you know what, never mind, she just wants to meet you, is all."

"Why?"

"I don't know, because you're my boss, I guess, and I spend a lot of time with you. I mean, does it really matter why? She's been hounding me for weeks about this. "

"Can't do it."

"Why?"

"I don't do the whole meet the family thing."

"Why not?"

"Because it isn't my area."

"Come on. You owe me."

Harvey can't help but laugh at that. "How on earth do you figure that?"

"You stole seven cups of coffee from me. The least you can do is pay me back by having one cup of coffee with me and my Grandmother."

"You counted the cups of coffee I took from you? Really? Who does that?"

"Who steals seven cups of coffee from somebody? Besides, I didn't count, I remembered. There's a difference."

"Fine."

"Fine?"

"I'll go. Under one condition. This stays between us."

"Of course. Thank you, Harvey."

Mike couldn't help but feel nervous while waiting for Harvey to show up. He wasn't even late but Mike was worrying that he changed his mind or decided he wasn't going to show. Every time his phone vibrated in his pocket, he checked it expecting to see the worse. The worse never happened though, because Harvey shown up to pick him up when he said he would. Even though that eased Mike's mind, he still felt like he was a little on edge.

"Grammy," Mike said, his face lighting up the same way hers did when she saw him standing at the door.

"Mike," she replied back before she was quickly engulfed in his tight embrace.

"This is Harvey. My boss," Mike said, stepping off to the side so he could introduce them.

"So this is the infamous Grammy I've heard so much about," Harvey said with a smile, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek.

"And you're the infamous Harvey Specter that Mike is always going on and on about."

"Well, I wouldn't say I go on and on about him," Mike interjected.

"Hear that, Mike? On and on."

"I, uh, I mentioned you a few times. That's not really-"

"On and on, Mike," Harvey whispered back to him, cocky smile firmly planted on his face.

"Hey, Harvey brought us coffee, Grammy," Mike said, quickly and not so subtly, trying to change the subject.

"That's very thoughtful of you, Mr. Specter."

"Please. It's Harvey."

All the nervousness that Mike had been feeling quickly dissipated. Harvey and his Grammy were getting along perfectly and his Grammy had managed to keep the embarrassing stories from his childhood to a minimum, which he was thankful for. They lost track of time over coffee and stories, and before they knew it, the sun was starting to set and it was time to go. Not before Grammy made Harvey promise that this wouldn't be the last time she saw him. Harvey promised and Mike felt a smile tug at the corners of his mouth when he heard that.

"I got you something," were the first words out of Mike's mouth bright and early the next morning in the office.

"Thompson briefs?"

"No. Well, I have those too, but I also got you a present."

"I don't want it. So whatever it is, take it back."

"Wow, that is the worst response to being given a present I've ever heard."

"Thanks. Now scram."

"That wasn't a compliment. At all. But here," Mike said, shoving the medium sized box in front of Harvey.

Harvey glanced at the box with a confused look on his face and then up to Mike. "What is it?"

"Have you never gotten a gift in your life? Seriously. Open it up and find out!"

"If it's any kind of animal, you're fired."

"It's not an animal, now open it!"

Harvey rolled his eyes and started to slowly peel the paper from it and open the box.

"It's a little thank you for coming with me yesterday," Mike explained.

"This is the ugliest thing I've ever seen in my life," Harvey said as he pulled the coffee mug from the box, giving it a look of disgust. It was painted with a plethora of the ugliest shades of colors Harvey had ever seen and didn't even know existed until now.

"I know, isn't it great? You already have everything, so I wanted to make sure I bought you something I knew for sure you didn't have."

"I don't think anybody would willingly own something like this. Do you expect me to actually use this? In public? Because that's not happening."

"It's yours. You can choose to do whatever you'd like with it. But in all seriousness, I really do appreciate you coming with me yesterday. It meant a lot. And I know, you know that it meant a lot to me. So thank you, Harvey."

"No problem. And uh, thanks for…this," Harvey said, holding up the mug as if he were toasting Mike.

Harvey kept the mug buried in the very back of one of his cabinets for the longest time. He definitely didn't want anybody to stumble across it and be forced into explaining the eye sore, but after a particularly stressful day at work, something made him dig it out. He rinsed it out and made a cup of coffee in it. Then he proceeded to curl up on the couch with the coffee and just listen to the silence.

He'd like to say that it was just the coffee having a calming effect on him but as he traced his fingers around the top of the mug, he could almost envision Mike's face smiling from behind it.

After that, he started using the mug not just after the stressful days but all days, no matter how they had gone. He'd drink his coffee in the morning before going to work, wash it up, and then use it when he got home from work. There was something oddly comforting about using it.

When Mike had bought the mug, it was mostly just as a joke. He knew Harvey would probably hate it, but still, there was a small part of him hoping that he would see the mug sitting on Harvey's desk when he came to work one of the days. If nothing else, he thought maybe Harvey would use it just to spite him. He never saw the mug at work though, and he stopped bothering to look for it after the first week, figuring he probably tossed it in the trash.

He never thinks about it until weeks later when it makes an unexpected appearance.

Harvey is awoken by a text from Jessica telling him to get to the office, because they were on the verge of losing a key witness in a case that they absolutely needed to win. That in itself would be enough to start his day off on a bad note, but the fact that he had only gotten to bed a few hours ago after fighting to close a merger, something he has a strong disdain for as is, made it even more annoying.

He jumped out of bed and proceeded to take the world's quickest shower, get dressed, and head to the office.

No time for coffee this morning, considering he had been late the moment he had checked his phone.

He could already feel the headache forming behind his eyes before he had even stepped through the doors at Pearson Hardman, and it was pretty much downhill from there. Witnesses in a high profile lawsuit recanting their statements, for a reason Harvey couldn't quite put his finger on, along with problems popping up with just about everything he encountered, even his computer was giving him problems.

"Donna said you needed me," Mike said, cautiously taking a step into Harvey's office.

"I need you to draft a subpoena for me, and I need you to do it fast. Donna can explain it to you. I'm stuck in meetings all afternoon so it needs to be on my desk by three. No later than that, and I'm serious, Mike. No dicking around. It's important."

"Yeah, right. I'll have it done for you. No worries. Anything else I can do?"

"Yeah, shoot me," Harvey mumbled under his breath.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just been a long day. Get that subpoena done."

"I'm on it," Mike said before practically sprinting out the door.

"Mike Ross."

Mike had barely just gotten situated back at his desk when he heard the familiar but unwelcome voice of Louis.

"Louis, whatever it is you need, it's going to have to wait. I have to get this filled out for-"

"Yeah, yeah, for Harvey. I know. I don't care. And in case you forgot how the chain of command works around here, when Harvey's not here, which, last I checked, he's not, you answer to me. And I need these briefs proofed."

"I will gladly proof those for you, as long as I finish this for Harvey first."

"You have an hour to have those back to me."

"Louis, I am begging you. Please just let me finish this for Harvey first."

"An hour, Mike. Or you're fired."

Mike knew he worked faster than most other associates, but an hour was still a ridiculously small time frame to proof what Louis had just given him. He'd messed up before and done work for Louis when he should have been doing it for Harvey.

He wasn't going to repeat that mistake this time, so he worked on finishing filling out the subpoena and took it over to Harvey's office.

"He's not there," Donna said, never once looking up from her computer as Mike walked past.

"When will he be back?"

"Probably in the next ten minutes or so."

"Well, I don't have time to wait ten minutes, so if I stick this on his desk, will you tell him that I put it there. Please?"

"I can do that."

"Thanks. You're the best."

"I'm aware of that."

Mike went back to his desk, put his head down, and worked as hard and fast as he could on the briefs for Louis. Even working his fastest, he had barely been able to put a dent in them. Sure enough, an hour, almost to the very second from when Louis had told him to have them done, Louis had shown back up at his desk.

"Let's go. My office," Louis demanded, motioning with his fingers for Mike to follow him. Reluctantly, he did so.

"Sit down," Louis said when he walked into the office.

"Louis, listen, I can finish them. I just need a little more time."

"And why is that, Mike? You need more time because you specifically did exactly what I told you not to do."

"And if I would have done what you wanted me to do, I would have been doing specifically what Harvey told me not to do."

"That's not the point. The point is that you think just because you're Harvey's golden boy that you can do whatever the hell you want around here with no consequences for your actions. Isn't that right?"

"That's not what I think."

"I want those briefs on my desk. As well, as this," he said picking up a large folder and tossing it down with a thud in front of Mike. "Also these," he added, tossing another stack Mike's way. "If they aren't on my desk first thing tomorrow morning, you're done here."

"There's no way I'm going to be able to finish these."

"Find a way to get it done. Or you're done. Either way, something is going to be done."

Mike sighed, already feeling completely defeated as he collected the hefty stack off of the desk and went back to his own cubicle. If nothing else, he figured he'd go out swinging.

Mike isn't sure how long it actually had been, but he felt like he'd been staring at the pages in front of him for an eternity. He rubbed his temples, trying to stave off the headache that was coming on strong.

"My office. Right now," Harvey's voice cut through the relative silence, startling Mike.

"Harvey, I have to-"

"I said now, Mike."

Harvey sounded agitated and it concerned Mike, so he followed him down the hallways and into his office.

"What's wrong?"

"One god damn thing."

"I'm not... following you."

"I asked you to do one god damn thing for me and you couldn't even do that."

"What are you talking about?"

"You know, I thought you were cut out for this. But I think I was wrong about you."

"Harvey, why are you saying this to me? I don't understand, I did what you asked."

"You really think it's a good idea to lie to me right now? Get out."

"Harvey!"

"I'm serious. Out now."

"Screw you, Harvey. I did what you asked. Ask Donna. I put what you needed done above all else and I got it done, so I don't know what the hell you're talking about, but you know what? I don't care what you're talking about. This conversation right now is proving how little you trust me and my ability. So you can take the job that you clearly think I'm so fucking incompetent at and shove it."

"So what, you're quitting now?"

"Why shouldn't I? I mean if you don't fire me, Louis is going to anyway. And you know why he's going to fire me? Of course you don't, because you don't give a shit about anybody but yourself."

"Here we go."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"The whole you don't care about me routine. Don't you think that's a little tiring, Mike?"

"And don't you think the whole leading people on routine is a little tiring? I know I'm damn tired of it. You can't fence sit, Harvey. That's not the way relationships work!"

"Oh, so we're in a relationship now? I must have missed the memo."

"You know what I mean, and don't pretend you don't. But you know what, forget it. You want me gone, I'm gone. Good luck finding another associate that works even half as hard as I do, " Mike shouted before slamming the door behind him so hard that Harvey thought it was going to shatter.

That was not the argument Harvey was expecting to have with Mike, and what it had turned into had left him feeling a little bit stunned. He sat there at his desk for a long time afterwards, just thinking and spacing out. As he was doing so, his eyes happened to catch something on his desk.

He brushed the stack of papers off that were covering it.

"I am the biggest dickhead in the world," Harvey said to himself as he picked up the subpoena that, it turned out, Mike had finished and brought him. It had gotten buried in the days work, and he had been so busy that he hadn't gotten a chance to ask Donna about it. Plus, combined with the bad mood he had been in all day, he probably wouldn't have heard her even if she had said something to him about it.

Harvey Specter calling…

Mike clicked ignore on it. As far as he was concerned, he had nothing more to say to Harvey and there was nothing that Harvey could say to him that he'd be interested in hearing. Not only that, he had more important things to do, like the work Louis had asked for. Sure, he had pretty much just stupidly quit his job at Pearson Hardman, but he still planned on finishing the work even if it was just to walk in there one last time and tell Louis off.

After two more phone calls from Harvey, Mike decided to shut his phone off. It was a distraction. He didn't care what Harvey thought. Not really. Okay, so maybe he wasn't fooling anybody with that routine, not even himself. He definitely cared what Harvey thought about him and that was the whole problem.

It was a little after four in the morning when he heard a knock at the door. He knew who it was. The only person it could be. He thought about keeping quiet, pretending he was sleeping.

"Come on, Mike. I know you're not sleeping."

So much for that. Mike sat down his highlighter and got up to answer the door. Might as well get this done and over with. "What do you want, Harvey?"

"I want... I need to talk to you. And you weren't answering your phone."

"I wasn't answering that for a reason. Go away," Mike said as he pushed the door shut, but Harvey stopped it with his hand.

"I made a mistake. A huge mistake. I found it... the subpoena, on my desk after you left. It somehow got buried in the chaos of the day, and because my mind was in a hundred different places today, I somehow missed seeing it there."

"Well, you should have at least given me a chance to explain myself."

"I should have. But I didn't and I took my frustration out on you, and I'm sorry for that."

"I know you don't apologize often but saying sorry isn't some quick fix. It doesn't just make everything go back to normal. I need you to leave, Harvey. I've got work to do."

"Thought you quit?"

"I did. I just don't want to get fired so I have to finish these briefs."

"Let me help."

"Why? Isn't this kind of thing beneath you?"

"This really great guy, well, he once told me that apologizing isn't a quick fix, so maybe I could start making it up to him by helping with something small. I owe him that much."

"All right. Come in."

Mike and Harvey sat there for the rest of the night until night turned to early morning, and the moonlight that shone through the windows was replaced by the orange glow of the sun. There weren't many words exchanged between them and the few that were, were work-related.

"Done," Harvey said, pushing the stack of, now completed, briefs across the table and stretching his arms over his head before throwing his head against the back of the couch.

"I can't believe we actually pulled that off," Mike replied.

Harvey leaned forward and turned towards Mike. "We make a pretty great team."

"We do," Mike agreed.

That's when Harvey leaned forward and kissed Mike, softly and carefully as if Mike's lips were made of glass, threatening to shatter if he wasn't completely cautious. Mike had his eyes squeezed tight and he felt himself get lost in the moment because this was something he had thought about more times than he cared to admit and now that it was actually happening, he didn't know how to react or how to feel.

When their mouths broke apart, they both sat in the silence, neither knowing what to say.

"What was that?" Mike finally managed to get out.

"You said I can't fence sit anymore."

"Harvey…this is-"

The words that Mike was going to use to finish that sentence were replaced by the feeling of Harvey's tongue in his mouth as Harvey's thumb rested against Mike's chin, holding him still. Mike moved his hand up and gripped the fabric of Harvey's shirt, pulling him in closer, deepening the kiss in the process. With his fists still full of Harvey's shirt, he pushed him back just enough to break away from the kiss. His eyes met up with Harvey's as they were still face to face.

"You need to leave," Mike whispered hot against Harvey's mouth.

"And you need to work on your dirty talk," Harvey breathed back.

"I'm serious, Harvey. We can't do this. Just like apologies don't make things better, you can't kiss things better either. You have to leave."

"All right. Yeah. Sure. If that's what you want," Harvey huffed as he took a moment to collect himself before he got up off of the couch. "I guess I'll see you at work in a few hours," Harvey said as he turned the knob of the apartment door.

"Yeah, I'll see you. But.. hey, thanks for helping me with the briefs."

"I owed it to you," Harvey said before closing the door behind him.

Louis seemed puzzled to see Mike walk into his office. "What are you doing here?"

"Wanted to hand deliver these briefs to you."

"You finished them?

"All of them."

"That's impossible. How?"

"I just found a way to get it done. You know, exactly like you told me to do. So thanks for the advice," Mike paused at the door before walking out, turning to add "Guess you're stuck with me a little longer," before leaving.

"Harvey."

"Ah, Louis. I thought I smelled desperation and dandruff shampoo. What do you want from me?"

"I know you helped him with those briefs."

"Helped who?"

"Mike Ross. I'm not an idiot."

"Let's agree to disagree on that."

"What is that?" Louis asked, noticing the mug sitting on Harvey's desk.

Harvey took a sip of coffee from the mug and let out a sound of satisfaction. "Don't you have work to do?"

"Where did you get that? I thought you were supposed to have good taste in things."

"Well actually, Louis, you really must know, this was a gift from somebody very special to me. And I quite like it. It has personality, which is more than I can say about you. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got actual work to do."

Louis just rolled his eyes at Harvey.

"By the way, if you ever threaten to fire Mike Ross again, I'm going to personally kick your ass. That also goes for trying to get him to prioritize your work over mine. He's my associate, not yours. Get it through your head."

"Fine. Whatever," Louis huffed, turning quickly to leave. He almost knocked Mike over in the process. He had been standing just outside of Harvey's office watching.

"How much did you hear?"

"Enough," Mike replied with a small smirk.

"About last night, well, this morning really," Harvey started.

"I'm sorry I kicked you out. I just kind of… panicked, I guess."

"So… are we okay now? How does this work?"

"Well, you are using that god awful coffee mug in a place where people can see you. And I heard what you said about it to Louis. I think we're even."

"This is actually my favorite mug. I use every day."

"Do you really?"

"I really do. It's really grown on me actually."

"Wow, there's just no accounting for taste, is there?"

"Funny, Mike. That reminds me though, I got you something," he said as he reached down and pulled a box that had been wrapped perfectly.

"You got me a present?"

"I was actually going to use it to bribe your forgiveness."

"That would have been a really good idea actually. I'm not above a little bribery."

"Open it up," Harvey said.

Mike slowly ripped off the paper and opened the top of the box to reveal a mug that was an exact replica of the one he had bought Harvey.

"Now we can match," Harvey said.

Mike laughed. "This is awesome. Can't believe you managed to track down the place I bought this from."

"Well, I had a little help."

"You're welcome," Donna's voice said over the intercom.

"I was actually mostly surprised to find out they make more than one of those. No accounting for taste though, right?"

"Thank you, Harvey. This is great."

"I was actually thinking maybe we can break that mug in tonight. Maybe grab dinner and then go back to my place for coffee? Does that pique your interests at all?"

"That'd be perfect. All I ever wanted really."